Persona 5: Hunter's Wake
by Chance Green G King
Summary: (This is discontinued and is currently being Rewritten) The first chapter is already up
1. Chapter 1 The Hunter's Origin

_**(This chapter has been slightly added with more material since it was reworked a bit along with the other chapters.)**_

 _ **The truth is, not everyone is created equal. I learned this truth the hard way. The world itself can be a cruel place, and for some reason it seems that children including teenagers are the first ones to suffer, being viewed as outcasts to society and someone who has no place among everyone else.**_

 ** _But yet, we are thou able to make change._**

 ** _From what I was told, the world is not as it should be, it is filled with distortion and that 'ruin' could no longer be avoided. And that would help out the trickster who rise up against the abyss of this distortion._**

 ** _Chapter 1_**

 ** _The Hunter's Origin_**

Normally when you hear a siren blaring it would mean that trouble was happening. For most people they'd rather avoid it but for some, well we were somehow caught in the middle.

The scene now focuses on what appears to be a massive 5 star looking casino and everyone inside was gambling away mostly their money, most unware of the events taking place tonight.

With alarms alarm's going off everything was pure chaos with two individuals were quickly dashing there way through. No one knew who they were only that the duo were on a mission, to escape.

" Good. Now get running ! " a boyish voice said through their ear pieces followed by a few other voices.

" This our only chance! "

" Stay calm! You can get away now! " another male voice said followed by a girls voice.

" We'll retrieve the briefcase on our end " an intelligent female voice added as the duo continued to dash their way through the hallways before they hid behind a few corners.

" ...Suspects..not..confirmed...hold...your...positions... " a voice said through their ear pieces.

" Hunter and Lord! Do you read us! " the first female voice from earlier asked.

" Loud and clear " my partner said replying. " Were in a bit of trouble, but we'll find another way through. The both of us will meet you all as soon as we can. "

" Roger that. Be careful " the calm female voice replied to my partner.

" We have to move, quickly " My partner said making me nod and before long we continued to run like bat's straight out of hell and as we were doing so two masked men wearing suits came into site.

" Let's take them out! " I said and with little effort me and my partner ripped off their masks causing both figures to crouch backwards turning into black and redish liquids and in their place were two tall bull like monsters with a lower robotic body that growled upon spotting the both of us.

" Let's get this over with " my partner said before a large serpent like creature appeared devouring one of the creatures followed by a feral growl making itself known before it ripped the other one in half.

" Easy " my partner said blankly as we continued on to make our way through the hallways only to see that there were about a dozen more masked men up ahead.

" Were never gonna get out like this, dammit " I cursed. " What now? "

" We need to get higher "

" But we never done that before "

" Now's a better time then never " my partner said making a decent point before we found the emergency exit making our way through and began to race our way up the stair cases.

As we darted our way through a couple of suited men came through one of the doors we were approaching.

" Suspects sighted! " the man said only to be knocked out by me delivering a hard kick to the head kicking him out while my partner broke through some glass grabbing the emergency fire axe and shoved it in place.

" That won't hold forever " My partner said bluntly.

" Then let's keep moving " I said with the two of us continuing to make our way through.

" This is Hunter, come in do you copy?! " speaking through my ear piece.

" I hear ya! " the first female voice replied.

" There's to much security for us to make it through. Were gonna make another exit. I repeat were gonna make another exit! "

" Understood! Be safe! "

" Were almost there! " My partner said but without any question we didn't have the time to notice a single suited man wielding a combat shotgun.

" Look out! " I cried out before all of the sudden with swift motion I knocked my partner out of the gunfire's way taking the hit right in my left shoulder with the force more then enough to send my crashing right through a nearby window shattering upon impact.

" Hunter! " my partner cried out attempting to grab my hand but failed and could only watch helplessly as my body continued to fall to the bottom leading to my certain death. However just by some luck I got lucky and the area around me became more vivid. With quick thinking I used my weapon and slammed it into a nearby building stopping my fall for a few seconds and landing hard onto the ground.

" Hunter?! Hunter come in! **Hunter!** " the friendly female voice rang through my ears as I slowly lost consciousness. While this was happening it appeared in my vison was obscured most likely meaning I would see the events that would lead me to this situation.

* * *

 **Let the clock proceed back into the past.**

* * *

 **Take Your Time...**

* * *

 **Day: May 2th. Monday**

 **Time: Early Morning**

 **Location:?**

Right about now an alarm clock sounds off followed by a loud groan and a hand reaching out and slammed onto it making it "die" witch was his definition of peace and quiet.

After that was done he slowly smacked his lips a few times like a horse and began to slowly opened up his eyes scanning his room. It wasn't small, more like half medium sized. His bed faced the window frame with his door near the left corner that was also his closet. On top of that his room used to be the basement in order to turn his room into a guest room.

To the right of his bed was a little mini fridge underneath including a black laptop on the top near a 21 inch flat screen TV hooked up to an old Xbox, N64 and finally a PS4.

Sighing very heavily he stretched out his arms into the air and made an attempt to get out of bed only to accidentally roll out of it onto the hard floor.

" Ow... Not the way how I expected that to happen " Zach said to himself before jacking his right arm onto the bed and slowly picked himself up. And with a quick clear view it was now seen that his left arm was nothing more then a stump. Meaning that he had to lose it some time ago. For most people they would think it's to weird and gross, but that's because they had no idea of what it's like.

Then there were his facial features that was really distinct. His hair was dark brown and his eyes were different colors, the left being red as blood and the right blue as the sky. But not only he have that but he had a large scar across his forehead as if something cut right through most likely another injury he got the same time when he lost his arm.

After getting refreshed he headed up the stairs and made a left and proceeded over to a closed door and opened it up revealing two small children fast asleep on bunk beds, a girl on the bottom and a boy on the top.

He made his move on his first target the boy.

" Get up Roku " Zach said in commanding tone with the boys name now revealed making him get up for us to see that he looked just like Zach only he was a bit younger most likely 8. As he got up he flinched upon seeing his older brother making the teen raise an eyebrow. " What's wrong? "

" Nothing...you just scarred me, you reminded me a zombie for a moment, because of your arm. " Hearing that made Zach frown but then continued towards his little sister.

" Zera...Zera " the teen said shaking the small girl with his good arm. " It's time to get up.. "

" Aw come... " Zera answered lazily. " I want to sleep. "

" Well to bad " Zach said before grabbing the blanket with his good arm and threw off the small raven haired girl giving her no place to hide. She then groaned before sitting up and stretching her arms.

" Your mean brother " the 6 year old said sticking her tongue at him and revealing her bright blue eyes.

" That's my job. Now get yours buts up " Zach said in a commanding tone jabbing his right thumb out the door and reluctantly they did so. As his siblings left there rooms and headed to the bathroom Zach headed back into his room and towards his desk opening up a draw.

Inside of it was his replacement arm but more commonly know as a Prosthetic. It was bit a more robotic then the old ones he used to have but this was a prototype it would let him do everything his original left forearm so this was something he couldn't live without.

First he rolled up his suspension sleeve and slid onto his stump with the attachment rod at the end of it. Zach then reached for the arm and twisted it on before turning on a switch followed by the fingers beginning to move. With his prosthetic on putted on a white glove and headed over to his closet and putted on his school uniform and grabbed his bag before heading down stairs.

" Morning guys " Zach greeted his siblings who were dressed eating bowls of cereal with the older teen doing the same.

" Moring. " they both greeted.

" Hey Zach? Isn't our tutor picking us up? " Zera inquired as he poured a the milk into his bowl and nodded.

" No not today, he'll start picking you up tomorrow. But listen, it wont be like this for long, its just until mom finds you both a good school. By the way what was his name? "

" Otaro Haganta " Roku answered.

" That's the name " Zach said as he continued to eat his breakfast and checked his watch. " Sorry guys, I better going " Zach said before pouring all of the contents into a metal container cup and grabbed his bag.

" Now remember, he'll be arriving in five minutes. So you all be ready when he arrives, okay? " Zach asked with his siblings nodding before Zera ran up to her older brother giving him a hug.

" Buh bye brother.. "

" Bye Zera " Zach said returning the favor and kissed the top of her head before heading on out into the crowded neighborhood of Yongen-Jaya.

" Well, lets go " the teen said to himself and began to make his way through the backstreets straight towards the train station.

* * *

 **TAKE YOUR TIME...**

* * *

.The scenery changes to a subway train with the character Zach sitting on one of the few open seats with a lot of people around him.

" Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you for riding with us today. We have now arrived at Shibuya, please make your exit to the left " the speaker for the subway announced.

" Finally... " teen said as he exited out of the train with some other passengers followed by other people entering the train. After he had exited out he took a sigh of relief mainly because he was never that much of a fan for people crowding around him. But since it was Japan, that was to expected. But luckily he was able to score a seat and finished reading Zorro The Outlaw so it wasn't a total drag.

As he exited out of the train he checked what time it was one his phone and much to his surprise something weird just appeared on his screen.

" Huh? Since when did I download this spy app? " Zach asked himself because the app was just really strange. It was mostly red with black outlines depicting an eye. Then all of the sudden just like a snap of your finger time literally froze.

" This is super creepy... " Zach said to himself before he noticed something was standing right in front of him. What ever the hell it was, he couldn't make out what it was, its whole body was made out of some kind of black mist with sharp glowing yellow eyes that gave off a feral growl before time started back up.

The teen looked around his surrounding area. ( Eh, I got to be seeing things ) Zach said to himself before continuing his way to school while deleting the strange app at the same time.

* * *

 **TAKE YOUR TIME...**

 **Location: Shujin Academy**

* * *

Right about now Zach had arrived at Shujin Academy and much to his surprise he was the first student present mainly because he was the only one around. Or so he thought.

" Hi Max " Zach called out making a groan be heard and soon another person identified as Max came out of the corner.

This person was a male about the age of 16 with long black hair reaching all the way down to his neck with his eyes were solid dark blue as the sky itself. His clothing appeared to the same school uniform as Zach, but one noticeable feature was that he wore a silver cross necklace.

" Man I never get the job on ya don't I? "

 _This is Max Taekami Zach's best friend._

" What's up Zach? " Max greeted with both teen exchanging a fist bump. " How are you doing? "

" Eh I'm fine, how bout you? " Zach asked.

" Same. Hey, school starts in hour, you thirsty? My treat? " the brown haired teen put a thumb on his chin. " Mmm...yeah I could go for one " he replied before they headed over to the vending machine and since it was Max's treat he got Zach something very sour.

" How in the heck can you really drink those things? " Max inquired.

" Pfaaaah! " the teen exclaimed making a face showing just how sour it was. " This stuff is like coffee to me.

" Also just heard that were gonna be having a morning assembly, it's mostly about what happened to that girl. "

Zach looked to his friend. " The one that tried to commit suicide by jumping off of the school rooftop? "

" (long sigh) Yeah. But do you wonder where the hell Kamoshida ran off to? "

" I don't know. What are your thoughts? "

" First thought that rolled in my mind that it has to with Takamaki. You know those rumors where he was having an affair with him? "

Zach scoffed. " That's a boat load of shit. For all I know it's a rumor that was started by someone who wants get even. But she don't really seem like the type to do that. "

" Right, right, your in her class along with that transfer student, the one that's got the record. What's he like? "

Zach put his right hand underneath his chin. " His name is Akira Kurusu, seems smart and nice guy, but I can't really say for sure. "

" Ain't he supposed to have a criminal record though? " Max asked as he took a swig from his drink.

" From what I've heard yeah. But, word is he's gonna get expelled by Kamoshida along with Yuuki Mishima and that one guy who used to be a star runner. What was his name? "

" Ryuji Sakamoto " Max said answering his friends question.

" Yeah that's it. "

" You really think there gonna get expelled though? " the long black haired male asked getting a shrug from Zach.

" I don't know. Hey.. " Zach paused. " How come your talking about the transfer student all of the sudden? "

" Well it turns out every once in a while he comes in my aunts clinic. "

" For what? " Zach asked completely confused.

" I don't know. According to aunt Tae he purchases medicine for his studies. "

" How long has this been going on for? " Max shrugged his shoulders.

" Hmm...I'd say about a month. Half at best. "

" That is just really strange " Zach said before he checked his watch. " Well it's almost time. The other students should be arriving. Let's just get this morning assembly over with already. It's a pain in the ass as it already is. "

" I'm with ya there " Max agreed as Zach grabbed his bag with both teens heading towards the school gate.

* * *

 **TAKE YOUR TIME..**

* * *

Right now the school gymnasium comes into view with all of the students gathered with both Zach and Max standing side by side with their arms crossed.

" Hmm, wonder what hells there to talk about? " Max whispered to his friend in the ear who returned the gesture.

" I'm pretty sure it's a safe bet it has to with what were talking about earlier " Zach said before the principal himself took the stage. " And there's Pluto himself " Zach said making Max chuckle at what he said before they now hushed up to see what he had to say.

" _Let's begin this school-wide open assembly. "_ The principal said through the mic. _" As you all know, a tragic event took place the other day. Thankfully we have been informed that she has pulled through, but it will take her some time until she recovers. Everyone here has a bright future ahead. I implore that you rethink the importance of life and-_ " All of the sudden the principal was cut off by a loud bang getting everyone's attention and much to their shock it was P.E teacher himself.

" _Mr. Kamoshida, what's the-_ " the principal began only for the teacher to speak up with his eyes closed.

" I... have been reborn. That is why I will confess everything to you all... " the man said before he slowly began to stride his way over to the stage getting the attention of everyone present inside the gymnasium.

" I have repeatedly done things that were.. unbecoming of a teacher. Verbally abusing students... physically abusing my team and... sexually harassing female students. I am the reason why Shiou Suzui tried to kill herself! "

" Oh my god... " Max breathed in disbelief as they watched the man get on his knees and began to cry and continued his confession.

" I thought of this school as my own castle... There were even students that I sentenced to expulsion, simply because I didn't like them...I will, of course rescind those... " He paused before continuing. " I am truly sorry for putting innocent youths through such horrible acts...I am an arrogant, shallow...and shameful person. No I'm worse then that... "

He then lowered his head in shame against the wood of the stage. " I will take responsibility and kill myself for it...! " After those words were heard everyone spoke up on leading to some of the teachers trying to calm down the students including the principal who headed over to the man himself.

" Mr. Kamoshida! Please get off the stage now! "

" Everyone! Return to your classes! " a teacher called out.

" I- "

" Don't run you bastard! " a voice cried out getting their attention to see it was Ann Takamaki. " Shiho's still alive even after all the things that made her want to die! You have no right to run from this! "

Zach nodded in approval before looking to Kamoshida who raised his head. " You're right...You're absolutely right... I should be punished under the law and atone for my crimes...I did horrible things to Takamaki-san, as well. In return for giving Suzui-san a position on the team... I tried to force her into having relations. "

Max shook his head in disbelief in what he was hearing while Zach continued to listen. " As of today, I will resign from my position as an instructor and turn myself in. " He then sobbed. " Someone, please call the police! "

Zach put a hand on Max's shoulder. " I've heard and had enough of this shit, let's go. "

Max looked to his friend and nodded before they headed back to their class room.

* * *

 **Take your time**

 **Time: After School.**

 **Location: Yongen-Jaya**

* * *

" Dude! Can you really believe this shit?! " Max yelled out loud as they were making there way home with the dirty blonde kicking a trashcan in frustration. " How long you think this shunt has been going on for?! "

" Who knows... " Zach replied. " I heard rumors of that bastard doing that stuff, never figured it was true. Then again anything is possible. "

" You think the teachers knew about this? " Max asked. " I mean seriousl how could people not notice. "

" Probably a handful including sir fat ass. My guess is the reason him, the teachers and the parents turned a blind is because of his success. "

" What do you mean by that Zach? " Max was clearly confused.

" You don't know? Apparently he's a former professional athlete and an Olympic volleyball champion. "

" That piece of shit been to the Olympics? For real? Or your just pulling my leg? "

" Does look like I am? " Zach replied looking at his friend with a raised eyebrow making Max scoff.

" This ain't right Zach, what the hell kind of adults let a monster do what he pleases with their students? "

" The greedy ones... " Zach quickly replied. " But at least he's gone now. "

" Okay moving on from that. How's your mom doing? " Max asked now trying to bring up another topic.

" She's alright, working as usual. How... " Zach paused knowing it'd be wise to avoid asking. " Never mind. (sigh) I hope Roku and Zera are having a better day. "

" Oh yeah just only recently they got a new tutor, okay I remember now. What's the tutor like? "

Zach shrugged his shoulders. " Don't know, haven't even met the guy. "

" What's his name? "

" Otaro Haganta " Zach replied with Max giving him a look.

" ... "

" What? " Zach asked.

" Nothing, forget about it " Max said confusing the scarred teen for a moment but shrugged it off as they now arrived at Zach's home. " Hey can we play something good? "

" We'll just have to see what is "good" by your standers " Zach replied retorted as he opened the door to his home. Once he did that's where he saw both of his siblings studying with another male in the living room.

This man was no doubt their tutor. He had to be most likely in his middle fourties 44 at best. He had light blonde hair cut really short, had a pair of old looking glasses covering his silver colored eyes. As for his attire it consisted that of an old looking black sweater with a gray shirt underneath, along with dark blue jeens and finally neat black polished boots.

As the door closed both of his siblings looked towards the source and smiled instantly seeing that there older brother had arrived home. The tutor turned around and placed a smile on his face and stood up.

" Oh, you must be there older brother " the older male said now getting up and extended his left hand. " I'm Otaro Haganata. "

" Zach Aurico " the teen said shaking the tutor's left hand with his good arm. " Have my siblings been behaving? "

Otaro chuckled. " Oh yes, there actually really good students. And quite frankly I enjoy my time teaching them. But sorry to rudely end our meeting, but I best be going. Until our next teaching Roku and Zera " the tutor said waving the two children goodbye as he walked out of the door.

" Bye Mr. Haganta! " both Roku and Zera replied with the smaller sibling running up to her older brother and hugged his leg since he was taller then she was.

" Hey Zera " Zach greeted by ruffling her hair much to her amusement before going up to Max and raised her hand high up as she could.

" Hi Max! "

" Hiya Zera " Max replied back by giving her a high five and nodded to his friends little brother. " Sup Roku? "

" Eh nothing much " the kid said now getting up. " Man I'm glad that's over. "

" So? How was he? " Zach asked his sibling and they knew he was talking about their new tutor.

" He was okay " Zera spoke up. " Only down side was that he talks a lot, half of the stuff he says makes no sense. I feel like my brain is being fried "

" feelings mutual " Roku added raising his hand.

" Well...who's up for a bit of game time? " Zach inquired.

" I am! I am! " both his siblings and best friend cried out before they raced down stairs to Zach's room.

* * *

" **TAKE YOUR TIME...**

 **Time: Evening**

After a good 3 hours of playing pokemon Stadium 2, Super Smash Bro's, Mario Party and Yoshi's Story on Zach's N64 Max eventually headed home.

As for Zach he had ordered take out for himself and his siblings and once that was done they watched an animated movie called Batman Mask of The Phantom. Zatch was never into the dark knight to much but since his siblings liked it then that was fine with him.

The teen sighed in relief after getting them both to bed and once that was done he headed to his room and as he did the door opened.

As for the one who entered it was an older woman in her middle thirties 36 at best. She had fair skin, red eyes and long black hair reaching down to her back. She adored a black suit with a white tie, black high heels and held a black hand bag showing she was one of those very important workers.

" Hey mom " Zach greeted only for the woman to drop her bag and run up to Zatch tightly embracing him as if something terrible was gonna happen. But to the teens guess she heard of what happened at school today. So without any other words he returned the embrace as well.

* * *

 **Date. May 3rd, Tuesday**

 **Time: Early Morning.**

Right about now Zach had just awoken. The reason he wasn't at school today was because ever since the events that took place yesterday everyone had a three day break to try and recuperate of what happened especially for those who were tormented by Kamoshida.

For Zach he felt irritated because of how the teachers turned a blind eye to his activity's, but he guessed that there were at least a few out of the bunch who had no knowledge that it was going on.

* * *

 **Take your time...**

 **Time: Morning**

Right about now Zach's mother Ruraka was washing a couple dishes with her eldest son walking up from his basement room.

" So, Roku and Zera are at their Tutor's house? " the teen yawned getting a brief glance from his mother who continued her task.

" Yes they did, just left about an hour ago. I see you were sleeping in. "

" Well, after the crap that took place yesterday and since they gave us 3 days off I figured I could use it " Zach said now heading over to the counter and opened up the cupboard to grab a box of cereal including a bowl.

As he was doing this he grabbed a milk jug out of the fridge and sat down.

While Zatch was making some breafast for himself he turned on the TV and coincidentally the channel was on the News.

" And now to discuss our next topic... " the newscaster said. " Fall from Grace: The story of a dishonored Olympic medalist. Just recently, a high school coach admitted to his school that he had been perpetually abusing students. Given his prior Olympic achievements, this has caused quite a stir. What caused this habitual offender to suddenly confess these heinous crimes to his entire school? The police are hoping that the upcoming interrogations will bring light to this question. "

" Hey Zach? Isn't this your school? " Ruraka inquired stopping what she was doing and began to listen what the news had to say. As for Zach he was eating his breakfast while focused on the screen before multiple students started to appear starting with a male.

" My friends would come back from practice with bruises all the time...It was scary, but I'm relieved that the abuse is finally going to end now. " It then switches to a female student.

" He would touch me and stuff all the time... I'm glad that I don't have to deal with that sexual harassment anymore... " The screen shows another female student.

" There were always rumors, sure. Not many people believed in them though. Like...I'm totally shocked they were actually true. At least now I can go to school without worrying. "

Ruraka then sighed before turning off the TV. " What a mess " the mature woman said shaking her head. " I'm just baffled that this has been going on. "

" You and me both " Zach said taking a bite out of his cereal. " I'm telling you mom, a few of them teachers knew about this including the principal. "

" I feel the same way. That's absolutely shameful. Anyways...I need to talk to you Zach " this perked up the teen interest.

" What is it? " he asked as she sat down.

" I'm gonna leaving... " She began. " I've been tasked with handling a trip in about 17 days from now. "

" Where are you going? "

" Hawaii. Have to settle with a little business agreement. In Canada. "

" Really? Canada? Not that it's none of my business but, how long will you gone? " Zach asked curious to know the answer.

" Two weeks. "

" Two weeks? That's a freakin long time, the trips you usually take last for about one week. This is crazy! " The teen exclaimed in disbelief.

" I know, I know. That's why I'm giving you a heads up. "

" When are you gonna tell Ruka and Zera? I already know that there not gonna be to fond of the idea. And I'm not being blunt, it's the truth. "

" I'm going to tell once they get home. But Zach, I have to do this job. Were in debt, if I don't do this were gonna lose the house. I have no choice, that's why I'm telling you this now because I'll need your help explaining it to them. " She then placed her left hand onto Zach's right. " Can I count on you? "

Zach groaned. " I'll try. "

* * *

 **TAKE YOUR TIME...**

 **Time: Evening**

* * *

Zach let himself fall onto his bed. Not just to long ago his mother dropped a bombshell on his little siblings about having to leave for a trip in few days. At first they weren't to happy about it because she was gonna be gone in two weeks, but with a little bit more explaining they reluctantly agreed while the teen played as another "voice of reason" to calm them both down.

As Zach enjoyed the peace and quiet he took of his prosthetic arm for the night before his phone rang. He put the fake arm down and grabbed his phone with his good arm and saw that he got a text message from Max.

 **Max: Hey did you see the news today?**

" Yes I did " Zach texted him back and did another message. " School ain't gonna be able to play innocent after that. "

 **Max: Oh yeah, for sure.**

 **Max: I'm just feel great to know that were gonna alright for a little while.**

 **Max: But hey? You really think that they did it?**

" Who the Phantom Thieves? " Zach texted back.

 **Max: Yeah.**

 **Max: Do you really think they stole his heart? I mean just like that Kamoshida changed and was willing to kill himself.**

" I don't know. I'm just as confused as everyone else is. " Zach replied back.

 **Max: Well, whatever the reason, I'm glad it happened.**

 **Max: Hey?**

 **Max: You wanna hang out tomorrow and head to that airsoft shop?**

" The one down town? Near the movie theater and bookstore? Yeah sure. "

 **Max: Great! Well good night Zach.**

" Night Max " Zach texted back. But then all of the sudden the weird app that resembled an eye reappeared.

" The hell? I thought I deleted this thing? " Zach asked himself before he deleted the strange app and headed to bed.

* * *

 **To be continued**

 **Okay, before I go blabbering off here's a little quick profile on Zatch such as his personality, likes/ hobbies.**

 **Zach Auriko Age 15.**

 **Nationality Japanese, American.**

 **Arcana. Death**

 **He usually seems like a pretty strange person when he is in fact actually a pretty decent person with only a strange way of thinking as well as point of views. He just simply wishes for everyone to see him as just another person nothing else.**

 **His hobbies include reading, playing classic video games, and enjoys watching anime.**

 **As for his likes, loves the band Blue Oyster Cult especially their top song (Don't) Fear The Reaper.**

* * *

 **Okaaaay. Now I'll start going on :p.**

 **So? How'd you all like this? Personally I've wanted to do a Persona 5 story for a while now, only problem was that I only watched the walkthrough videos. But since I got it for my older brother we've been playing the crap out of it. And thanks to the calendar system and getting a bit through the game itself I decided to write this story.**

 **So please no extreme flames. I'm rather interested to see how far I can go with this story. On top of that I'm wanting to do My Hero Academia, but the only problem is that I'm having a ruff time trying to make a decent beginning. So if any of you are willing to give me suggestions, then please Pm me, I'm all ears.**

 **Plus if any of you have suggestions for this story, then please speak your minds.**

 **I've already got a good idea on what I can do next, but if any of you want to throw ideas then go on right ahead.**

 **Until next time...**

 **G King!  
**

 **Out!**


	2. C2 From Paradise to Descending Darkness

**:)**

 **(This chapter to has been updated, so I hope that you all like this better since I fixed the mistakes.)**

 **Chapter 2**

 **From Paradise To Descending Darkness**

 **Date. May 4th**

 **Time Early morning**

 **TAKE YOUR TIME...**

 **Location: Aurico residence.**

As of right now Zach was up and about eating a quick breakfast and wearing hiis casual clothes. They consisted of a black plain t shirt with ripped blue jeans and black boots.

Usually in moments like these your family would be around but it wasn't. Both his younger siblings were studying under their tutor Otaro Haganta while their mother Ruraka was at work and would always end up getting home late. It troubled him a lot that he couldn't spend a lot of quality time with them, especially after the accident that cost his left arm.

But either way, he was glad to have a family at least have instead of no family. So make up a little free time Zach had the whole day to himself and what better way to use it then to hang out with your friends?

Then again he recalls how everyone at school looks at him as if he was soldier coming back from a war after his accident. They had the wrong idea entirely, because not one person would talk or even look at him until Max came along.

Zach recalled first meeting him in Junior high and he was always quiet. Sadly because of that it spurred all kinds of rumors through out Shujin Academy. Like this one for example, he's a sociopath ready to make his next victim. All of them including the ones about me utter bull shit, started by someone else's ignorance because of they couldn't try to understand either of us, but when rumors start they spread like wild fire. This utterly ruined his chances of making friends.

However, by some miracle their was always one wolf trying to make a pack. In short terms that make sense, were thick as two pees in a pot, two shells in a double barrel and I quote from a video game I've played, "two cannibal midgets in a fat guys ribcage. " Seems like a really stupid logic, but I'm sure you all get the point.

" Better leave a note on the door... " the scared teen said to himself before grabbing a piece of paper and a pen.

 _ **Roku and Zera I went into town with my friend Max. I'll be gone for a little while, if you need anything or if something comes up then please, call me, you ought to remember my phone number.**_

 _ **Your older brother Zach.**_

Once that was done he grabbed a few pieces of tape and used them to stick the note on the front door before he locked it up with his key and left for Yongen Jaya Station.

* * *

 **TAKE YOUR TIME...**

 **Location: Yongen Jaya Clinic upper level.**

* * *

Inside of a small bedroom was Max fast asleep on his mattress and appeared to be panting and gasping. Meaning that without, he was having a nightmare. Before he gasped shooting himself forward, trying to catch his breath and had tears leaking from the corners of his eyes.

Once the teen calmed himself down he quickly wiped away the tears.

As Max got up he exited out of his room and heard talking.

" Where'd you get this from? "

" From an accomplice in the hospital I used to work under. "

As Max entered the living room there were two woman present.

The first was in a wheelchair. She was in her late thirties. Her hair was incredibly long black as a raven just like Max's. Her were eyes blue as the sky and skin white as snow. Her clothing consisted that of a black dress with white edges and wore white gloves. As for her name, Sora Takemi.

The other woman seemed to have the appearance of a punk only no peircings. Her dark blue hair was short bowl cut and had brown eyes. She also had her finger nails painted red including her toes. As for the outfit she adorned was a white lab coat that was worn over a short black dress that had a red grommet belt around her waist. She also wore black strappy high platform heels and finally she wore a black studded choker connected to a silver necklace.

" Oh, hi Max " the woman with long raven hair greeted.

" I see your finally awake " the doctor replied.

" Morning mom. Morning Aunt Tae " Max replied back before grabbing some two peices of bread and putting them in a toaster.

" How'd you sleep? " Sora inquired as she looked over to her son taking a seat near the table.

" I'm sorry, what? " Max replied back his mother still shook up by the nightmare.

" I asked how did you sleep? " Sora repeated the question.

" Like a log " Max replied " Also mom, I'm gonna be hanging out with my friend today. I just want to let you know that. Will that be fine? "

" Sure of course " Sora replied.

" By the way...how did you sleep? " Max said returning the question to his mother who chuckled.

" I slept just as fine as you did, thank you for the concern son " the mother said before Tae shook a bottle of pills getting her attention. " I know, sister I know " she said before popping two in her mouth and dry swallowed them.

Around the same time the toast was done. Max grabbed them and sat down at the loveseat beginning to eat his breakfast with the company of his mother and aunt.

* * *

 **TAKE YOUR TIME...**

* * *

It now shows Zach riding on the train and luckily for him he scored himself another seat and was reading Pirate Legends. Apparently it was about Captain Kid.

" In other news " the newscaster said getting Zach's attention and looked towards the screen that was right above his head. " The cause of the runaway train incident in the subway the other day still has not been found. Police are hurrying to solve the matter as it may relate to the rise of psychiatric incidents. "

" So that's the buzz lately. I still can't believe it happened " Zach said to himself and paused on the book about Captain Kidd and began reading Cinematic Treasures. " Hmm, that's interesting " he said to himself and continued to read the rest of the article for the hell of it since it would be a little while until he got to Sibyua.

* * *

 **TAKE YOUR TIME...**

 **Location: Shibiyua Central**

* * *

Right about now Zach had just exited out from his train and began to look around for his friend. But instead he found him.

" Hey Zach! " Max greeted making him turn around to face his best friend wearing casual clothes, that consisted of a plain white t shirt and a pair of dark green four pocketed cargo pants. And finally black sneakers.

" Hello Max " the teen greeted and gave off a light yawn. " How are you? "

" Eh, I'm fine, slept like a log too. But how bout we hit the airsoft shop? And go to the underground mall? " the teen suggested with Zach humming in agreement and once the greeting was done they walked over to the cross walks.

" Yeah that sounds good. By the way you think the shop's got anything new? " Max asked as they made their way through the cross walks and began to traverse through Shibuya Central Street that was full of shops, restaurants, including a movie theater and the underground mall that was beneath their feet.

" Hey Zach... " Max elbowed getting his attention. " Think you could ever beat their challenge? " the teen asked pointing straight towards Big Bang Burger.

" You mean the Big Bang Challenge? Pfft! Hell no. What do I look like? A sumo wrestler? " Zach retorted.

" Hey, those big guys are get amounts of money larger then themselves, and they get to eat all they want. " Max clarified.

" Until they have a heart attack... " Zach pointed out bluntly before they made a right going and soon entered into a shop that looked like a zombie apocalypse survivors paradise.

* * *

 **TAKE YOUR TIME...**

 **New Location: Untouchables**

* * *

As both teens entered the shop that had a knock off model of a fallout solider they were now looking right towards a rugged man behind a counter. He had gray hair buzzed down with side burns, a scruffy mustache connected to a scruffy beard underneath his chin. Plus he had a lollipop in his mouth. As for his clothing it consisted a gray hat with yellow ear defenders around the base. He also wore a black turtle neck sweater underneath a long gray coat with a red peace symbol on it and finished it off with blue jeans and dark boots.

" Hmm? " he lowered his paper and looked to the teens. Mainly Zach in particular. " Well, well, if it isn't my favorite customer. "

" Hey Iwai, how's business? " Zach inquired.

" What do you think? " the older man retorted.

" I see just about the same with that old attitude " the teen replied making Iwai chuckle.

" That aside, what are you interested in? " Iwai questioned.

" Movie weapon replica's. And I'm hoping you got something new, "

" As a matter of fact I do " he replied before sitting up out of his seat and headed to the back. " This just came in about a month ago " Iwai said as he brought over something covered in a tarp and layed it on top of the counter.

Before long he removed the cover and the weapon was revealed but this was not a gun in fact it was a crossbow with a silver ram head piece on front of it.

Zach whistled showing he was impressed.

" From that, I take it you approve? " Iwai inquired as Zach gripped the weapon. " That is a replica weapon from the movie Van Hellsing. "

" With Hugh Jackman right? " Zach inquired as he examined the details of the weapon itself and Iwai nodding. " How much? "

" Thirty thousand yen. But since I do still owe you, for a little bit of your work hanging up flyers I'll cut it in half. "

" I'll take it " Zach said putting the replica weapon down.

" Alright, what about you? " Iwai asked noticing that Max had his eye on something.

" I'm interested in that long sword " the teen replied pointing to a really nice sword hanging in it's sheath in the back area.

" That thing? Been trying to sell that for 5 months. A waste of my time, just take it " Iwai said now getting up and giving the sheathed blade to Max and began looking for a case for Zach's purchase.

" Talk about luck... " Max said as he took the hilt out of the sheath. " Not bad at all. " He excamined the sword even further. " A bit ruff around the edges but no less, this would make something really good for self defense. "

" So you would want to a knife to a gun fight? " Zach questioned. " Bad choice... "

" Why not light sabers are able to block bullets. "

" Yeah, but does it look like were Star War's or something? Take a rain check weirdo. "

" Hey! It takes a weirdo to know a weirdo. " Max retorted laughing a bit at his choice of words. " So? Wanna head to that music shop? "

" Eh, sure. " Zach replied with a shrug.

* * *

 **TAKE YOUR TIME...**

 **New Location: Shibuya Underground Mall.**

* * *

" Out of all the stuff you could possibly pick in that place...you only bought Blue Oyster Cult? " Max inquired as he and Zach exited out of the music shop in the underground mall.

" You got your tastes. I got mine " Zach said calmly as he putted the cd into his bag.

" I don't really get you sometimes man. "

" It don't matter if you do or do not. " Zach replied as they made their way out. " But since were done here and it was rather quick. Hey! How bout a trip to Eletric Town? "

" I... would love to go to Electric Town " Mack replied as they made their way to the train.

* * *

 **TAKE YOUR TIME...**

 **New Location: Electic Town**

* * *

" Man I love this place " Max said as we walked through a street filled with all kind of electronic shops and a few others that people of the modern era would go crazy about.

" Likewise, you and me both " Zach added and then stopped before snapping his fingers with his right hand and pointed to store that read Otaku Goods Shop (AKA. Tokobushiya) " Boom. Otaku store, no words lets go " Zach said as he darted inside.

" Geez, he's in a happy mood now " Max whispered to himself as he entered.

 **Half and hour Later.**

After "blowing through" all of the shops in Electric Town including the Retro Video Game store and spending a little time at the arcade both teens were now in Maid Café.

Max sighed satisfied. " Nothing like a good day of hanging out, if I do say so myself. "

Zach rolled his eyes placing his phone onto the table. " Yeah...and ending it with us eating at this Cafe. Sometimes I often wonder how perverted you can be. "

Max narrowed his eyes. " For your information I happen to just like the atmosphere here. Friendly good service, and pretty decent food. "

" I don't believe that... " Zach replied showing he wasn't convinced. " Dude,

" Here you are... " the maid waitress said giving them both their lunch for the day. Max had ordered a large bowl of ramen with a slice of strawberry cake while Zach on the other hand was eating a fruit salad.

" Ah, thank you " Zach said nodding his head and began to dig into his fruit salad while Max had himself something a little sweet two slices

" Man you always eat fruit " Max noted

" That's because I got to eat better. Besides I've been on this diet on for at least two months now " Zach said patting his stomach. " I mean, it's kind of necessary when you have prosthetics. Plus strawberry cake for lunch? "

" hey, like you told me, you got your tastes, I got mine. I'm not gonna judging you. So back off. " Max retorted and continued to eat. " Mmmmm! So gooood... "

" Hey? Is that a pop belly beginning to form? " Zach mocked only for Max to give him the finger. " Oh that's nice, real smooth. " Zach said continuing to mock him not even fazed by the action at all.

" Okay, moving on. Hey by the way have you seen this? " Max asked bringing out his phone and handed it over to Zach who examined on what his friend was talking about.

" The Phantom Thieves Aficionado website? "

" Also called the Phan-site for short " Max chimed in.

" When did this thing appear? " Zach asked as he began to check out the comments.

" Some anonymous created the website once Kamoshida was arrested and started this poll. Do you believe in the Phantom Thieves or not? "

" And it says here about 6.7 believe in them. Geez, this happened just a short while after Kamoshida confessed? That's weird " Zach commented and handed Max back his phone.

" Your telling me? Apparently people can also post requests online. "

" And do the same thing that they supposedly did to Kamoshida? "

" Yeah " Max simply replied. " Heck I even made a post. "

" About what? Knocking some sense into a bully at our school. Nothing changed yet. But hey, it's worth a shot. "

" Uh-huh " Zach hummed. " By the way can I ask you something? "

" Yeah sure. "

" How come you gave me that look when I mentioned the name of Roku and Zera's new tutor? "

" You don't know the rumors? "

This made Zach both intrigued and confused. " What? What rumors? "

" Apparently the guy has taught multiple students and each one of them act differently. Hell there afraid of something, but the problem is there's not enough evidence to support these claims. "

" Where did you hear about this? "

" I have ears everywhere. The guy might seem nice, but he could be a monster. Look at what happened at the academy, everyone thought Kamoshida was a decent person, on the outside. In the inside, a whole completely different story. I'm sorry Zach, but I care for them and I don't trust that guy. He has a look in his eyes that just can't be explained. I'm telling you Zach, that guy is really suspicious. " Max said firmly.

" Well I don't hear anything from Roku and Zera, so we can't believe in these rumors completely until we have solid proof. "

" Yeah your right " the long black haired teen sighed. " But still...you feel odd sometimes? I mean, now that these Phantom Thieves appeared multiple people lives are changing for the better. "

" I see where your getting at. Hell, its as if, everything is something straight out of a movie. "

" And were in the movie theater right? " Max joked.

" Hehe, yeah. But thanks for telling me that, now I'm gonna have to keep a real close eye on them. Huh? " He also noticed that his phone started acting all weird but he turned it off and ignored it for the rest of the day deciding to see what was going on later.

* * *

 **TAKE YOUR TIME...**

 **Date: May 7th Saturday.**

* * *

Ah, good old Saturday. Usually you'd be able to stay home on a this day but when your in Japan that's a different story. Which means you only get one free day and that's on Sunday. Major difference from going to school in America.

Zach was now seen near the doors of the train that would get him to the academy.

( Dam it! I wasn't able to get myself a seat ) Zach cursed to himself. But at least he got a decent view of the mini screen above showing the train news. And yes, the train's apparently have their onw news station.

" Now for today's Train News. Todays headlines are... "Volleyball Beating Investigation!" The school claims to have left teaching methods to its staff. It has denied once again that it had any knowledge of the beatings. " Pollen Warning as of Next Week!" Greater volume and arriving later than in previous years. "Hotspots in Tokyo!" Experience art in Shibuya! The Madarame exhibit opens next week. "

" They didn't have any knowledge? Bullshit, planet fat ass knew about it all along " the haired teen commented and then looked over to the corner of his right eye to see the transfer student aboard holding his bag.

( Is that a cat in his bag? )

* * *

 **Time: After School**

 **Location: School Gate**

* * *

" Zach wait up! " Max called out getting over to his friend.

" Oh hi Max, haven't seen you all day " Zach greeted before his friend sneezed into a handkerchief.

" Yeah, sorry bout that. My allergies are starting to act up. Meaning that Pollen time is just around the corner next week. Achoo! " the long black haired teen sneezed again.

" On top of that we got to exams coming up next week, which means we got to study. Not a pleasant combo in my book. "

" Well, like last year were just gonna have to tough it out and study. Maybe at the diner at central street? "

" Yeah alright, " Max groaned and sneezed again.

" Excuse me " a calm, polite and collective female voice said making both male teens turn around.

Standing before them was a girl about a year older then the two teens most likely 17. She had brown hair in a bob cut with blunt bangs, red eyes and pale skin. She adorned the usual winter uniform, instead of blazer she wore a long sleeved white turtle underneath a black halter vest. It also included a red line black pleated plated skirt with a black pantyhose and finally black-brown ankle boots.

" Oh, my bad " Max said letting her through motioning his arm.

" Thank you " she said politely before going through.

" Niijima-Senpai " Max breathed.

" Her first name is Makoto right? " Zach inquired with Max nodding before he sneezed again." Achoo! That reminds me, guess what? I saw her exit out of the door leading to the roof. "

" The rooftop? Why would the class president go up there? " the dark brown haired teen asked feeling a bit intrigued.

" I wondered the same thing, so I waited it out for a little bit and afterwards Kuruso, Tamaki, and Sakamoto all came out. "

" Wonder what was so important? " Zach asked putting his good arm underneath his chin.

" Hmm, still an interesting blend of characters don't you think? " Max said as he began to list them up. " The troublemaker, the girl of rumor, miss council president and the infamous transfer student. Now that is one heck of a combination if I do say so myself. "

" That's true " Zach said and couldn't help but chuckle.

" Anyways wanna hang out and go the movies or something? "

" Sorry no can do. My mom gave me a list of things to do, like pick up a few groceries on the way home. "

" Eh, your loss. Bye " Max then left heading for home leaving Zach by himself and began to make his way to the station.

* * *

 **TAKE YOUR TIME...**

 **New Location: Shibuya Backstreets**

* * *

The back areas of Shibuya, not many people favor going around this area, because this was a hot spot for purse snatchers. So that was the one reason why people tended to avoid the area itself.

But it was fine for Zach since the nearest station was right through here. The dark brown haired teen himself was just whistling away as he continued to head to the station while checking the contents of plastic bag in his hand.

" Let's see, eggs, check. Beans and onions. Check. Asparagus, milk and noodles. Yep that's all of it " Zach confirmed making sure he got everything as he continued on to the station he noticed a rather large luxurious house, not filthy rich kind but a pretty decent sized house by his standards.

" Nice house...wonder who owns it? " Zach asked himself before he looked at the address and was really surprised to see who it belonged to.

" Oh, so this is where Haganta lives? " the teen asked himself. " Geez, the whole area is like a stage, people can hide and do harm to others, it seems like anything can happen hear " he said before he suddenly felt his head aching. " Whoa...what's up with my head? " Zach groaned while using his right head to try and caress the aching pain his head was giving off.

As he continued to sooth the pain his phone began to ring. " Huh? " Curious to see what was going on Zach brought out his phone and much to his surprise the weird looking app was back and it expanded covering the whole entire screen. " Whoa...okay what the hell is going on? I thought I deleted this dam thing? "

As Zach was about to delete the app all of the sudden the very area around him began grow dark with a hinge of red and it appeared all of his surroundings were beginning to change. And it was then that he noticed the app was begging to ripple like water. While this occurred the pain coming from his head worsened before it stopped just like that.

" What the hell is going...on? " the dark brown haired teen paused at the sight before him.

In front of Zach was no longer the house that he saw only a mere second ago. Instead a large scale 19 century French architect something straight out of Europe. He also noticed that the sky itself was pitch black above.

The teen looked to the sides and saw that the street was normal except the building itself. " Where'd this thing come from? I know shouldn't but it couldn't hurt to find out what this place is " the dark brown haired teen said to himself as he moved forward and entered the building.

* * *

 **TAKE YOUR TIME...**

 **New Location: Haganta's home?**

* * *

" Whoa... "

Zach was in complete awe. Because this place wasn't a illusion the building was very real, and he's seen old theaters before and this was just top notch. The interior was made out of wood, decorated with light holders made out of pure gold that glistened. Above Zach was a massive chandelier that gave off a bright light to the area itself.

" This is really strange... " the teen commented as his eyes scanned around the area he now noticed a ticket an old looking 19th century ticket booth. " Is this place supposed to be a theater or something? " Zach asked himself as he approached the booth and looked inside. " Hello? Hellooo? " the teen called out before something startled him.

Now standing inside of the ticket booth was a strange figure dressed up like a vendor. He wore a black suit with white edging and a had. But what really took him by surprise was the blue human face like mask the figure wore and saw glowing eyes through the eye holes.

" **_Greetings...and welcome to the Theater of Fear._** " the vendor said greeting Zach but sounded like two people at once.

( Well at least this confirms my question. )

" **Is something wrong sir?** " the figure inquired.

" N-no. Everything's fine. But what is this Theater of Fear? "

The figure clasped it's hands together. " **Ah, I see. This is your first time isn't it?** " Zach reluctantly nodded. " **Then you are in luck. First time visitors pay nothing. So please, come, come in. I insist** " the vendor said. Zach wasn't to sure if he wanted to enter or not. His gut and instinct were telling him to leave while his curiosity told him to see what exactly this theater was.

And so curiosity got the better of Zach as he walked forward and was greeted by the vendor once more.

" **Your ticket sir?** " the vendor said holding out a piece of paper that Zach accepted. " **Elevator is to the right. Enjoy your visit** " the vendor said as he headed back inside.

Zach then proceeded. As was instructed he made a right into the hallway leading to a 19th century elevator. " Geez, this place is like a time capsule " Zach commented as he approached it and stopped.

" _**Which way? Up or down?**_ " he then examined his ticket and saw on the back reading top floor. " Up we go then " Zach said now pressing the arrow pointing up. As he waited the teen noticed the elevator had three large numbers starting from 1, 2 and 3 including two bold capital letters on the very top. **TF** meaning Top Floor without a doubt.

Soon enough the elevator opened revealing another masked figure dressed up like an elevator man.

" **This way please...** " the masked elevator figure said motioning him to come into the elevator.

Once he was inside the doors closed. " **Which floor sir?** "

" Top Floor " Zach replied making the masked figure pressed one of the buttons and Zach saw it glowing with the words showroom inscribed in small bold letters.

Very soon the elevator began to rise and in a few short minutes the elevator dinged with the doors opening.

" **Have fun** " the masked figure said with the doors closing right back up leaving Zach only one option continue walking forward towards a counter meeting another masked figure.

" **Ticket please** " the figure said with Zach showing the piece of paper. Afterwards the figure grabbed a glowing orange stick and lead through a door.

Once the door opened it revealed a massive room with a huge ceiling. The place had dozens of seats with a few upper row seats on the balcony's making this place seem like an opera. And all the way down was a massive screen mostly likely 50 feet in length covered in a red curtain.

" **Take your seat** " the figure said and immediately the dark brown haired teen darted to the closest seat he could fine with the figure leaving.

After he took a seat the lights died down and the sound of a pipe organ quickly played with the sound of a projector rolling followed by the large red curtain raising and a screen lighting up.

Before long the screen turned began showing a title called Arachnophobia. This confused Zach a lot. But instead of the 1990's film only more confusion was added as it shows Haganta studying in his home with what appears to be female gothic teen about the age of 16.

" How are you doing Asami? " Haganta inquired.

" I'm doing fine Mr Hangta. " the girl called Asami replied not taking her eyes off of her work. " Still, I thank you for helping me study, it makes a big difference. "

" Anytime, anytime... " he paused. " Would you care for a refreshment? I have grape and orange juice. "

" I'll take grape juice " she replied before Hagnata left leaving her alone for a few minutes. Then after a few more seconds he returns with a glass full of grape juice.

" Here you are.. " Haganta said smiling and handed it to his student who took a drink out of her glass. And as she did so he took out stopwatch and pressed it.

" Mr Haganta? What is... Huh?! Ahhh! Get off me! Get off me! " Asami then began to scream before the picture changes to show he being swarmed by millions of spiders all across her body.

As she continued to scream Haganta pressed onto his stop watch, got up and brought out a camera taking a photo afterwards.

" No wait...why are you doing?! " the girl screamed as she continued to try and get the spiders off of her body before it returns to real life just showing he flail around on the ground while Haganta continues to watch.

" And yet another good subject " he said taking notes " And only ten seconds for it take effect. You've helped my research progress a lot. " Soon he approached the girl cowering in fear and knocked her out by injecting a needle into her arm. " Shhh...shh...There, there, all of that will just only seem like a nightmare to you. By the time you wake up, it'll be fine " Haganta said putting her down on the couch and chuckled in amusement with the screen showing Fin.

" Holy shit... " Zach breathed feeling a bit more pale, completely taken by surprise and mentally took back the words he said earlier. As he was processing this an applause was heard.

" **Bravo!** " a familiar voice exclaimed sounding a bit like a bad radio signal you get on the radio. Soon enough Zach turned to the left to see Otaro Haganta himself. The only strange thing was that he didn't look same when Zach last saw him.

The tutor was dressed strangely. He wore an elegant white outfit consisting of a white top hat with black ring around the base. He also had a white suit shirt and dark purple under shirt, jester style pants with black and white stripes and finally pointed shoes giving him the appearance of a showmen. The only thing that seemed off was his eyes they were and instead, bright yellow making him appear to be possessed by the devil himself.

" **That was a truly something wasn't it?** " Haganta inquired now brining out a black cane with a silver head piece shaped like an masquerade mask.

" Wait a minute Haganta? What's going on here? " Zach asked now getting up out of his seat and began to follow the older male. " Just what the hell was that supposed to be? "

" **That is my pride and joy** " Haganta replied spreading out his arms for a moment while chuckling a bit. " **Now tell me, did you enjoy the show**? "

And then hit him. " Roku and Zera...where are they?! And what are you doing to them?! " the scared teen spat.

" **Nothing. I enjoy their company isn't that right you two?** " Haganta inquired before two small figures came out of the seats one wearing a red dress while the other wore a black suit wearing individual masks.

" **You see? I wouldn't do anything to them. They are good friends.** "

" **Yes big brother, he's our friend...** " they both spoke in unison like the twins from the shining shocking him completely before getting pissed off.

" What did you do to them?! " Zach screamed about to lunge forward only for a bunch of chains to sprout out of the floor.

" **Now, now Zach. Is that the kind of behavior your siblings are supposed to be doing? Your their role model, shame on you for cursing. I think we should let him stay here for a little while. Don't you two agree?** " He inquired looking back at the duo.

" **Yes** " they both replied as the chains unwrapped Zach giving him the moment to run.

" Gotta get out of here! " Zach said to himself running as fast as he could like a bat out of hell making Haganta groan.

" **Awww! Leaving already? There's so much fun we could have here. Oh well...down you go...** " Haganta said slamming his cane onto the floor and once that happened a trap door opened making Zach loose his footing but he quickly managed to get a hold of the edging.

" **Your rather interesting** " Haganta said getting mere inches away from his face. " **How bout I give you hand?** " the older male inquired only for the teen to spit right in his face making his siblings gasp.

" **Alright have it your way. But once I'm done with you, you're never gonna want to leave here.** " With that said he then stepped on his good hand making Zach let go and fall down the trap door with the sounds of Haganta's laughing echoing as he fell down.

 **To be continued.**

 **Okay, so as you can all clearly see trying to make an Oc Palace and figuring out what type of enemies there will be is not easy. But I hope that you can all see and understand the general plot. As for the key words of this Palace, they will be revealed later.**

 **Now replying to my reviewers.**

 **The Celestial Sky Dragon.**

 **Thank you, I'll try my best and do hope that you enjoyed this chapter and the oc Palace I've come up with. And as usual your opinions are most appreciated.**

 **Bobby Jenkins.**

 **I thank you for the brief idea. But please don't pressure or push me into updating the Dragon's Chosen. I'm starting to grow rather annoyed. I'm flattered but, please have patience, that new chapter is nearly done. And no way on a one punch man and dragon reference. To overkill in my view.**

 **Laradhel. Your words are kind, and like I said I'll do my best trying to proof read. Either way hope you enjoyed this chapter.**

 **BloodyDemon666**

 **Thank you friend and hope this was worth the wait.**

 **Well that's enough for right now, so until next time...**

 **G King!**

 **Out!**


	3. Chapter 3 Breakthrough!

**(Note this chapter has been slightly changed with my character getting a different weapon and the reintroduction of my female Oc character who's name I changed into something that ain't so over used so much. Plus, I was so freakin stupid! I didn't even give her a description to her appearance the way I wanted to. So I do hope that she can develop into something great as the story progresses)**

 **Chapter 3**

 **Breakthrough!**

 **Date: May 7th Saturday**

 **Time: After School.**

 **Location: Yongen-Jaya Clinic Upper Floor**

Right about now Max was inside his room busting out a few text books so that way when he was ready to study for the exams they would be right waiting. However that's mostly when he goes over to Zach's home to study, but sometimes they do it at his home as well.

" Speaking of which, I wonder what Zach is doing right now? " the long black haired teen wondered and busted out his phone to send him a text message. However something was really wrong.

" Huh, that's weird. Unable to deliver message? Receiver out of range? Where the hell is Zach? Europe? " Max asked himself in complete confusion.

* * *

 **TAKE YOUR TIME...**

 **Location: Haganta's Home?**

* * *

Zach emitted a loud groan. His vison was totally black, his senses began to kick back in.

" (groaning) Where the hell am I? " Zach asked himself. " Oh yeah, that's right " the teen said to himself as he got up and recalled the events that happened moments ago. " Question is, now where am I at? "

The area around him was like some kind of holding cell with brick walls all around, no bed and a toilet looking like it hasn't been clean in years. On top of that it was littered with dozens of spider webs in the corners and the sounds of water drops echoing through the place.

Zach quickly examined his prosthetic arm and made sure it wasn't damaged and luckily it wasn't making him sigh. " Well at least your still intact " he said before feeling the pockets for his phone.

" What? Where'd it go? " Zach asked himself now looking around the floor before he found it. " Okay, cool your not broken? " The teen looked right up through the ceilings and saw nothing that proved he fell into the cell through a trap door.

" This just keeps getting better and better don't it? " Zach retorted and checked out his phone. " No reception, no bars. Nothing. I better get out of here though " the teen said and then headed over to the door. And just like in every scenario like this, the door was locked.

" Shit " the teen cursed. " Think of something, think something " Zach paced himself trying to come up with a solution.

First he inspected the holding cell around and saw that it was also 19 century style capable of holding up to six people at best. So that meant with the right items he could pick the lock.

Soon he sprawled over to the floor and used his phone as a light to help him look and soon enough he found what appeared to be a small knife buried underneath a pile of dust and dirt. " Huh, the inspection crews do a terrible job I see. "

After he washed it off in the toilet he inspected it closely. " Yeah this'll work, " Zach said to himself and headed over to the door. He then stuck the edge of the blade inside of the lock itself as deep as he could and tilted it down. Once that happened it he began to wiggle the knife clockwise and counterclockwise for about a few seconds until he heard a click.

" Yes " Zach said to himself and quickly opened the door taking the knife out of the lock socket and held onto it.

" Heheh. And who says learning how to pick locks is to cliché? " the teen asked himself as he exited out of the cell looking through both corners to make sure the coast was clear. Once Zach was done he closed the door silent enough not to make a loud noise.

' Good, that parts done. Now gotta find a way out of here ' Zach then began to look around the area and took a left only to see it was blocked off by a steel gate.

" No going that way... " he noted and looked through the tiny bar door to see an elevator on the other side. " But at least I now know how to get out. From the looks it, no doubt gotta go around. "

Zach then headed to the other direction of the holding area and made sure to peek through the corners because where there was a holding area there would be guards around to make sure no one would leave.

As he continued to look around he noticed that this place was extremely dusty, and probably never had a house keeper to clean up the place. After opening a door he continued to make his way through and was on alert.

( It's to quiet. I don't like this ) Zach then proceeded down another hall that went left and was met with another door. Very silently he peeked through the glass hole and saw that there were three guards on duty and the room was the only way to proceed.

" Okay, three of them and one of me. In this case no way " Zach said to himself as he silently backed away. " There's got to be another way around them. Hmm? " Zach then noticed that there was a loose vent on the wall to his right.

" Bingo " the teen confirmed before he very carefully removed the screening and by sheer luck he managed to fit. After putting the cover back on to make sure it didn't give away his location Zach began to crawl on his belly doing his best to make sure he didn't make to much noise. As he continued to crawl he was now going real close the guards.

" **Why does the master want him again?** " one of them asked.

" **No idea** " another guard replied totally unaware that Zach was right inside the vents. Within a few more seconds of crawling on his stomach Zach had managed to arrive to a vent right near the door to the guard room. Very carefully he pushed the vent forward making it pop off but he quickly caught it and set on the floor, crawling out afterwards.

He then quickly scanned the hallways and sighed lowly as he put the vent cover back in place. " Alright, good, good. Let's keep going " Zach whispered and continued down the hallway. But stopped at a corner peeking through. Zach repeated this process through each corner and then made his way through another door.

" **The prisoner escaped!** " a voice yelled out echoing through the hallways making Zach curse and immediately heard footsteps coming his way. He panicked but noticed the floor grates below his feet and with very little hesitance he quickly got inside and remained still as the guards came bursting through the door.

" **Find him!** " the leader of the gaurds said with Zach quietly chuckling to himself as he once again began to crawl silently through the floor grates until he ended up in another room and luckily for him the door was blocked off by old junk meaning he was in clear for the moment.

" Okay, what the hell now? " he asked himself before he noticed an old wooden desk covered thick layers of dust. Zach even wrote his name on it for laughs. " Yep, thick as ice frosting. Hmm? What's this? " he now noticed something buried underneath a bunch of old books.

After pushing them aside he picked it up and blew on it causing dust to fly all over the place making him cough a little. " Yuck " he said spitting what ever got into his mouth. And then examined the paper from the looks of it, this was no doubt the blueprints of the area he was in. " Whoa, talk about luck " the dark brown haired teen whispered and then began to examine the map.

( Alright, from the looks of this I woke up in the holding corner. After that, there was the guard room. And if this right then I'm here. Plus the elevator is pretty close by. Question, how am I supposed to slither on out of here? )

He then neatly folded up the map into his right pocket and then noticed an a large bookshelf and right near the left corner of the wall was an open ventilation shaft.

" Aha! " the teen said instantly climbing up the bookcase and made his way inside. ( Alright Zach, so far you've ended up possibly in another reality, broke out jail and now a fugitive. This just keeps getting better. Eh what's the worse that can happen? )

But then all of the sudden he heard a light creaking noise alerting Zach. " I just had to jinx myself" the teen cursed quickly trying to crawl away but failed. " OH SHIIIT! " the teen cried out crashing down hard into the floor.

" (Light groaning) Dam, that hurt. Huh? What did I land on? " he looked down to see that one of the guards was now down for the count meaning he took the fall and became a cushion for Zach. However he didn't take it lightly and quickly backed away.

" That was totally unexpected " the teen said to himself before he heard footsteps. " Out of the frying pan and into the fucking fire. Fantastic " Zach retorted and quickly spotted a closet, grabbed the guard and drug him inside with him.

" **What was that noise?!** "

" **I don't know! He has to be near by**! " the guards assumed and headed down the hallways in the direction where he was supposed to go.

" Shit, there on to me " the teen whispered to himself and heard a light groan coming from the guard he dragged in. " Lights out bub. " He said before whacking it in the head with a hard piece of metal and then noticed a glass bottle gaining a smirk.

Zach quickly cracked open the door and made sure the coast was clear. He then threw the glass the bottle in the other direction. " Hey! I found him! Over here! " he cried out mimicking and got back inside not to soon hearing footsteps running in the direction.

" Nice... " the teen noted dashing down the hallway leading to the elevator but stumbled on another problem the door was locked. " Oh come on " Zach groaned begging to look around for a hint and somehow with the luck he's had Zach didn't hesitate and crawled into the floor grate and popped out through the other side.

" Alright, elevator should be right up here " Zach said and continued through the hallways with all of his senses on high alert.

" Huh? " the dark brown haired teen paused stepping back a few feet and noticed a old wooden chest with a lock on it. " Hmm, guess it couldn't hurt to find out " he said now making his way over to the chest.

" I swear to god this better not be one of those treasure chests that spew out fire or turn into a monster " he muttered to himself as used the knife to pick the lock that soon fell to the floor with Zach lifting the lid up.

" Whoa... " he had a look of surprise all over his face as he pulled out what was inside. What lied in the chest was some kind of weapon. The handle of the weapon was wrapped up in black leather. As for blade itself, it reminded him of that of a meat cleaver with serrated edging also giving it the appearance of a saw.

" Well, at least I have a little defense " Zach said to himself before multiple footsteps were heard coming from behind him. " Oh crap. "

" **Don't move!** " the teen quickly turned around to see three security guards approach. The leader of the trio spoke up. " **We don't know how you escaped from your cell. But your coming with us, Master Haganta want's your presence**. "

" Fat chance. I'm leaving! " Zach replied back like a snarling dog.

" **Very well. Be sure not to kill him, the master want's him alive** " the leader of the group said before a sickening sound was heard. They exploded into a pool of red and black goo before they reformed into tall green humanoid like creatures with glowing red eyes, sharp claws and pointed ears. These creatures were Ghouls.

The teen could not believe that this was happening, but yet for some odd reason. He felt extremely calm.

The ghouls then snarled as they charged forward with two skidding across the walls with the leader going forward.

Most people in this position would run, but instead something felt different.

One ghoul jumped right towards Zach but in an instant he swung the weapon upwards slicing it clean in half and turned into black cloud.

He felt, faster, stronger with his senses sharpened.

Zach then jumped backwards. He used the momentum to his advantage and used the sharp edge of the blade to deliver a clean right cut making the ghoul scream in pain, turning into a black cloud before grabbing the leader, jumping over and decapitated his head resulting in the same black cloud.

" Wow... " Zach breathed totally blown away that he did that. " What a rush, it's almost like this place is affecting me in a different way. But I better get out of here now. Wait a minute, what the heck? " he kneeled down and much to his shock the places where he killed the ghouls were littered with money. Taking the opportunity he collected all of the money.

" They drop money? Jeez, this is like a sick and twisted video game. But on the other hand at least I get free money "

 **55000 Yen Collected.**

" Now to get out of here " With a weapon at hand and better equipped he quickly dashed his way through the halls and finally made it to the elevator.

Zach pressed the arrow pointing up then in a few seconds the elevator doors opened with the teen getting inside. " Lets see, I was at the top floor. Now Id want to go to the entrance. " He then slammed one of the buttons with his right fist making it glow and the door close.

He then brought out his phone. " Still no service. I'm still on my own. I have to get out of here " Zach said and put his phone away and got his weapon ready seeing that he was almost to the entrance.

The doors to the elevator opened. He instantly peeked his head through looking down the hallways and without any other questions the teen quickly dashed through the halls on the look out for more of them masked figures while navigating through the various hallways that seemed like an eternity.

( Alright! The exit has to be close by! Come on legs! Don't give on me now! ) Zach said to himself and soon enough the vendor was spotted meaning the exit was just up ahead.

" There it is " the teen said and immediately rushed over to the door. But once he got there it wouldn't open. " Son of a bitch! " Zach cursed before he heard tangling noise making him turn around.

" **I'm sorry sir but orders and orders from master Haganta** " the figure said before it soon turned into a pool of black and red slime before it reformed. Pretty soon the figure's new form resembled that of a giant bat, with large wings wielding a pair of syckles with two small hands.

( Oh boy... ) Zach said to himself before the bat like monster emitted a loud screech and flapped its wings a few times. Without any other thoughts Zach ran down the opposite hall way.

" **Try as you might you wont escape!** " the bat said as it then took flight flapping it's wings furiously pursuing the teen and with it's incredible speed it soon cut Zach's left shoulder making him grunt in pain before it hung upside down.

It then licked one of it's syckles that cut Zach tasting his blood. " **Mmmm. Tis a shame that I can't have anymore other wise the master would be upset if I hurt him to much**. " It then looked around and saw that he wasn't around. " **Now where'd you go?** "

A loud noise was heard coming from the left. " **There you are...** " the bat said and then lunged forward towards Zach knocking him on the ground. But instead it was a box frame showing Haganta himself.

" **What?!** " all of the sudden the bat then screamed in pain as for the cause a knife hit right at it's back before it was soon tackled into the nearest wall.

" Give me the key " Zach growled.

" **Nope** " the bat replied and lashed forward beginning an assault with it's weapons making the teen go on the defensive before jumping backwards and charged.

" Hraah! " the teen gave off a battle cry and swung his crescent blade only for the bat to dodge it and grab with it's syckles. So with quick thinking Zach used his other free hand and grabbed the bat's neck and rushed towards a wall and as he did so the knife stuck in the bat's back got in further making it scream out in pain.

" Just freaking die already! " Zach yelled out as he continued to put pressure on his opponent however it was quickly turned around before it spat right in Zach's face and hung upside using the opportunity to take the knife out.

" **Your smart I give you that...(grunting in pain) But not good enough** " the bat said now flying towards the teen using it's weapons making Zach loose his grip on it.

With no weapon at hand the bat knocked Zach back making him fall onto the floor as it gained a look of victory.

" **Now, are you going to come quietly?** " the bat inquired but only heard a feral growl.

" **What now?** " the bat asked in annoyance and began to scream in pain once again because something grabbed it's neck. Then in only a few more seconds the creature thrashed the monster around like a rag doll painting the floor red with blood. Pretty soon the bat was torn to pieces making it turn into the a black cloud just like the ghouls.

As the for what killed it. By some luck it was that creature from before, the same one with it's entire body formed out of a black mist with glowing yellow eyes. Then without any question it threw Zach the key to the doors and then said one word.

" **Go...** " the creature sounded like two people talking at once and then faded away as if it wasn't there leaving the teen both confused and amazed at what just happened. But he knew that he had to get out of the hell hole he was in. So Zach grabbed his weapon and unlocked the door busting through straight towards the entrance.

As Zach did so he suddenly felt like as if he was moving through jello. It was hard to move. He fell light headed and the world around him seemingly began to warp around him.

* * *

 **TAKE YOUR TIME...**

* * *

Suddenly Zach found himself standing and much to his shock the world had returned to normal.

" Where did? " he asked himself and then heard his phone buzz making him bring it out.

" _You have now returned to the real world. Welcome back_ " Zach's phone spoke up making him sigh in relief and felt a huge weight on his shoulders disappear and slumped against the nearest wall.

( Thank god. Huh? ) he then noticed that the cut on his shoulder was still bleeding. ( Better get this patched up ) Zach said to himself before reaching into his bag and found a rag. He then took his shirt off and tied it around the wound to stop the bleeding and putted his shirt back on while looking towards Haganta's home.

( What was that? ) Questions were pouring through his mind as he then noticed the bag of groceries he had left was still there. After grabbing it he checked his phone and saw the time.

" Oh shit! It's been 4 hours?! I better get home! " the dark brown haired teen cursed himself and dashed off towards the station.

* * *

 **TAKE YOUR TIME...**

* * *

 **Date May 8th Sunday**

 **Time: Morning**

Right about now Zach yawned as he awoken from his deep sleep since there was no school on Sunday's. Once he was up and about the scarred teen headed towards his bathroom not bothering to put on his prosthetic.

In only a few minutes he had finished his shower and was now drying off.

He headed towards his mirror and used the towel to wipe off the steam so he could see his reflection and saw the wound on his left shoulder. While still gazing at his reflection he used his right arm to touch it, this was only just to confirm that the events of yesterday was not a nightmare. That meant all of those weird monsters and that more evil version of Haganta including the Theater of Fear was all real and it happened.

As he got dressed into his casual clothes he recalled the events of last night. When he did get home his mother was no doubt upset at him for being late. However it changed immediately after she noticed the wound on his shoulder. He explained to her that he tripped and cut himself against a corner of concrete and that the he missed the train and had to wait it out with his phone's battery being dead.

Zach didn't like to accept the fact that he lied to his own mother. But then again who couldn't blame him? He had to fight for his life in some kind of alternate reality filled with monsters. So how could she believe him no one would, the whole answer would make people believe he himself was lying despite telling the truth or worse. As much as Zach regretted it, he knew that it was better to try and not make his mother worry as he was for both Roku and Zera.

He did decide on one thing, to look up more info about Haganta and try to do some research.

Before long the doorbell rang getting Zach's attention. He then got out of his basement room and into the living room to the door. Zach peered through the peeping hole to see that it was only Max.

Once the door opened Zach greeted his friend.

" Morning Max... "

" Good morning Zach. Can I come in? "

" Go ahead " Zach welcomed motioning his stump of a left arm into the air.

" See you didn't put on your automail " Max notted as his friend closed the door.

" Dude, we've been over this a thousand times, it's called a prosthetic. "

" So what? There the same thing " Max retorted pulling up a chair and looked around. " Where the little ones? "

" Eh, I'm letting them sleep in today " Zach replied to his friends question.

" Speaking of which were you the other day? I couldn't send you a message or even call ya. "

" My battery died " Zach quickly spoke up while not happy to hide that he lied to his friend.

" Okay. That's reasonable enough. Hey? Wanna go grab your monsters and go check out a few movies? "

Zach thought about it for a moment. " What the heck, why not? "

* * *

 **TAKE YOUR TIME...**

* * *

Zach ended up spending the whole day with Max, Roku and Zera seeing two movies in one day and ending it off with a nice bowl of ramen. A good day it was, but the events of yesterday still took a toll on the teen.

As he got out of the shower and slipped into his PJ's his phone buzzed getting Zach's attention only to see that his friend send him a text message.

 **Max: Hey Zach?**

 **Max _:_ Starting tomorrow night wanna study together? **

" Yeah sure. Is your mom and aunt gonna be okay with that? " Zach texted back.

 **Max: Yeah, they don't mind, just as long we don't get into trouble.**

 **Max: Pff, as if.**

 **Max: By the way?**

 **Max: Are alright?**

Zach could instantly feel that his best friend was starting to grow worried. " Why do you ask?

 **Max: You seemed a bit off today, I was just wondering.**

The teen chuckled. " Don't worry man, I'm okay. I'll see you tomorrow. "

 **Max: Night**

Once the last message had ended Zach threw his phone on top of his bed and slumped down. He emitted a sigh.

( Nothing. There's only been a few rumors on the web, there have been well over twelve complaints. No one has even bothered looking into it, and the cops didn't do anything, real suspicious, but it's just a dead end for me. Shit...this sucks... Wait a minute... ) he then sat up and recalled the victim that was playing in that flashback at the theater.

He then shot right up from bed meaning he has a revelation.

" There was that girl... " Zach breathed and he instantly knew that he got lead.

* * *

 **Date May 9th Monday**

After school was done for the day and Max headed off home Zach took the opportunity to continue the investigation.

He was now standing in front of the door leading to the student counselor room.

" Hello? Anyone inside? " Zach asked knocking two times and opened it slightly.

" Yes come in " a polite voice replied letting the brown scarred teen enter and was greeted by Makato Niijima herself. " Oh, its you Aurico I didn't expect you come over here. "

" Hello Niijiima-senpai. "

" Do you require any assistance? "

He nodded. " Yes, do you have a yearbook that I can borrow? I'm trying to find someone. "

" You want to borrow a yearbook? Very well. One moment " After receiving the yearbook from the student president he then quickly browsed through the female student section. After a little bit of flipping through the pages Zach found the same girl that was in the video.

Her name Asami Tsumura and she was a second year student.

( Bingo ) Zach said to himself and gave the book back to Niijima. " Thank you for the help. That's all I needed " the teen said and left for the door leaving the older girl both confused and yet intrigued by the sudden interest of one the students.

* * *

 **TAKE YOUR TIME...**

* * *

The dark brown haired teen had now arrived at Inokashira Park " Okay, if that girl from the newspaper club was right, this is the place " Zach noted beginning to look around the area.

" Come on, come on " the teen said to himself hopping she was here and by sheer luck he succeeded. There no doubt that this was the same girl that was an experiment. She was sitting underneath a tree giving off a lot of shade appearing to enjoy the peace with some sort of black instrument case right next to her.

Now that he was closer he had finally got a decent look on the girls appearance. She was down right a goth not extreme, but she reminded him of Max's aunt who ran the back alley clinic of where he lived.

She was about the age of 16, her hair was black like tar tied tinto a extremely short pony tail while a few of her bangs were highlighted white right above her eyes blue as if the ocean itself was frozen. As for her clothing she was wearing her uniform only difference was that she wore a black unzipped hoodie.

( That's her ) Zach said to himself and approached her. " Are you Asami Tsumura? "

The goth looked up to him. " Who's asking? "

" I want to talk. " he replied making the girl arch her left eyebrow showing she was entirely confused at what was happening.

" What do you want? " " I just want some information " Zach replied making the girl groan in annoyance.

" There's no information that's gonna be useful for you " the girl said getting up and grabbed her case only for Zach to grab her right arm.

" What are you doing? Let go! " she said trying to wiggle her arm out of his grip.

" Look, you have stuff that I want to know and you want justice for what happened to you. " She then immediately paused at words he had said. " What are you talking about? "

" Otaro Haganta " she then widened her eyes in fear and started to tremble with her lips beginning to quiver from the memories of what happened and looked back to the scarred teen.

" What do you want? " Asami breathed.

" I know what happened. Please I need your help, the protection of my siblings is at stake here. I just wanna talk. "

* * *

 **TAKE YOUR TIME...**

* * *

It now shows both Zach and Asami at a nearby local café.

" How did you even find me or know what happened? " the goth inquired taking a sip of her tea while Zach ordered a glass of milk.

" Well first I asked a member of the newspaper club and she knew a friend of yours and here we are. " The scarred teen explained. " Second, you wouldn't even believe me if I told you. Trust me you wouldn't. "

" Try me then " Asami insisted.

Zach then explained what had occurred at the Theater of Fear.

" That defiantly sounds crazy, I don't know if I should call you a lunatic or a stoner. " She said putting on a hard expression.

" Then why would I look for you? " Zach inquired while ignoring the fact she called him a stoner. " What would my motive be to track you down to the park? Because I'm a stalker? No. I'm not, ever word you heard is the truth. "

Her expression softened. " You said that the protection of your siblings was at stake... how old are they? "

" My little brother Roku is eight and my little sister Zera is only six. I don't want anything to happen to them. "

She placed her left hand underneath her chin. " Your a complete stranger telling me the age and name of your relatives, this more suspicious. But, what do you want to know? "

Zach brought out a small note pad with a pen. " How long were you under Otaro Hagantas tutorage? "

" About 3 months. I needed help because my grades were dropping after my mother got into an accident, I was so worried that it affected my studying. So my dad hired Haganta to help me. "

" Okay, " he made a note. " How did he act? Had he ever acted strange? "

Asami shook her head. " No. He was really nice offered me a lot of support and encouragement. "

" Hmm " Zach hummed as he wrote down the facts. " What happened exactly? From your perspective? "

" My perspective? "

" In your own words " Zach clarified.

" Oh well, at the time, my grades were starting to improve. I'd recall that he started to act weird just about a week before it happened. "

" Okay. Was there anything imparticular that day? "

" Yes. It was my last day...and-and... " she started to tear up making Zach drop the pen.

" It's alright... " Zach said " don't hold back, let it out... " the teen said before she her eyes ran like water before wiping them away to recapture her composure.

" It was then, that he gave me a glass of grape juice, af-after one drink in only a few seconds I saw spiders. There was so many of them, swarming all over me. I was terrorfied. I'm...im sorry. "

Zach reached over and took her hand. " No, don't you be sorry. Not at all, " Zach said letting go. " Okay, what happened next? What could you remember? "

" I woke up on his couch. My mom and dad picked me up from his place. He told them that I fainted but I remember everything. I tried telling my parents but they wouldn't beleive me. "

" Listen, your not crazy, I beleive you, I'm trying to protect my siblings. Everything your telling me, is going to help. He ain't gonna do a damn to them. Thanks for your time. "

" No thank you, what's your name? "

" Zach Aurico, we go to the same school. "

" Really? Cool. But hey...one more thing. In another room near the bathroom there's something that he don't want no body to see. "

" Thank you Asami. Would you like a hug? "

" Id love one " she replied giving him one that he happily returned.

" See you later. Thanks for tea " after was said Zach & Asami left the cafe with the male teen paying the bill leaving as well and headed to the station.

( There's something at his house...hmm. I need to find out what he's hiding. Right now I gotta to study. For the moment time being... he isn't going to do anything, for a while at least. Once I find what he's hiding I'm gonna find a way to get back to the Theater of Fear. There's more answers there. )

 **To be continued**

 **Persona's used for this chapter.**

 **Ghoul, Arcana Death. Info:**

 **Its name is Arabic for demon. Commonly known for living in abandoned places and graveyards.**

 **Camazotz, Arcana Temperance. Info:**

 **A bat god in Mayan mythology.**

* * *

 **Now replying to my reviewers**

 **Bobby Jenkins**

 **Well, besides the question that I already gave you an answer hope that you enjoyed this chapter.**

 **JayH120**

 **You'll find out, why spoil it? And your gonna love their Persona's :). P.S I've read and reviewed your Persona 5 story, pretty good.**

 **The CelestialSkyDragon**

 **Thanks a whole bunch Sky. That really means a lot to me to see that you enjoyed the whole chapter without any problems. So I hope you feel the same with this chapter as well. Peace friend :)**

 **Lelouch of Zero chapter 1 & 2 **

**Oh yeah, the fact that the real world in that game is a lot more scary then the Metaverse it's self is defiantly something that I agree with. A for both Roku and Zera only time will tell, as the story continues. Only then will the mission become clear. Either way hope that you really enjoyed the chapter, thanks a lot for checking out this story :)**

 **Well even though it don't seem like much the whole idea for the palace and the floors was a tough cookie to bake. Even so this is the result.**

 **Okay that's enough for right now so until next time...  
**

 **G King!**

 **Out!**


	4. Chapter 4 Path to the Beast

**:p**

 **Just a WFI while job hunting ran into two guys from the tv show Ghost Adventures, two famous people. What the hell are the chances are running into people like that am I right?**

 **(Also this chapter has been slightly changed since this was updated along with the rest of the other chapters.)**

 **Chapter 4**

 **Path to the Beast**

 **Date May 14th Saturday**

 **Time: After School**

 **Location: Shibuya Academy**

" Man I'm happy that the exams are all over! " Max sighed in relief as they walked out of their class. And it was true, for at least two days both he and Zach had been studying every chance they got. That was exactly what the two did for two days straight before they had to take their midterms for at least 4 days leading all the way up to Saturday. Luckily for the duo it was Saturday, the last day for the midterm exams.

That also meant one thing, Zach's mission to take down Shadow Haganta. A name he decided to call his enemy since the one he knew was a polar opposite to the man himself.

" I agree with you there, had to do some late studying to help keep me on track. It was defiantly a pain in the ass though " Zach admitted.

" How do you think we did? " the scarred teen asked his friend who hummed trying to think up a good reply. " Beats me. "

" Hello Aurico, Kurome " a voice greeted using their last names making them turn around to see it was Sadayo Kawakami Zach's home room teacher.

" Oh, hi Ms Kawakami, how you doing? "

" I'm doing okay, thanks for asking. So? You both think that you did good? "

Zach shrugged his shoulders. " I kinda hope so, other wise staying up a few nights would have been a waste. "

" Yeah, same here, but thanks for helping me study Zach. "

" No problem. It's done and over with, for now at least " the scarred teen replied.

" Well, regardless I'm sure the two of you did good. The results for midterms will come up in a short few days. See you tomorrow " once that said the female teacher left.

" I'm glad we at least have one good person around here. " Max commented.

" Oh yeah, " Zach agreed as they headed down the stairs.

" Hey you heard? About Niijima-san? " Max asked catching Zach's intrist.

" No, why? "

" The word is that Pluto himself assigned her to question other students to find out who the members of the Phantom Theif's could be. Who do you think is in the group? "

" I don't know. " Zach replied. " It would make sense, but if there smart...then they take caution. That's how a secret organizations work. "

Max chuckled. " Heh, can't argue with that logic. So you wanna head to the movies today to celebrate? "

" No I'm okay " Zach replied blankly

" You sure? " Max said arching his left eyebrow up into the air.

" Hmm. Don't worry I'll be fine. "

" Okaaaay " the long black haired teen replied sheepishly not really believing in Zach's words. " Well, just be sure to text me in a while deal? "

" Deal " Zach replied as they exited the school and walk towards the gate separating in different directions.

As this happened the scarred teen frowned. Never in Zach's life had he lied this much. If there was anything he and his dad hated more it was a liar, and sadly he had no choice but to lie to his best friend. This was something he had to do alone. Even if he did tell Max his friend would gladly give his life to protect both Roku and Zera. As much as Zach wanted to, he wouldn't forgive himself if Max got hurt or worse killed.

( I'm sorry Max. I'll tell you the truth, all of it. Once this is all over. ) he said to himself and headed to Shibyua through the station.

* * *

 **TAKE YOUR TIME...**

* * *

 **Location: Shibuya Backstreets**

Currently Zach had arrived near Haganta's home and was examining his phone staring at the strange app.

( This thing brought me in there and out. So that means it would take me back. ) He was going over his thoughts and he just realized something. ( Then again do I want to do this? Barely made it out last time. Who's to say that I wouldn't make it? )

He quickly shook his head. " No, I have to do this...for there sake... " the scarred teen said eyeing the house itself. " Only problem is...how the hell does this thing even work? "

As Zach continued to stare at the house something most unexpected happened as if fate was putting him through a test.

" Oh hello! " a friendly voice said getting Zach to turn to his right to see Otaro Haganta himself carrying a few bags of groceries meaning he was out shopping.

" Your Roku and Zera's older brother. What was your name again? I swear it was on the tip of my tongue. "

( Just act normal ) he said to himself and gave him his name. " It's Zach "

" Yeah, that's it. What a coincidence, I'm here and your here. So what brings you through the backstreets? "

" Eh, the train heading to Yongen Jaya comes around here faster. And I didn't even know that was your house " Zach lied hoping he would buy it.

" Yeah, not the idle place, but it's home. Hey? You wanna come in? " Haganta offered " I'll fix ya a cup of coffee. "

" Alright sure, "

" Well come on in then " the man said as he followed the older male.

( This is really risky. But if the info I got from Momo the other day is correct...then I need to get in that room. )

* * *

 **TAKE YOUR TIME...**

* * *

 **New Location: Otaro Haganta's Home.**

The inside of the tutors house was really nice. It had most likely two floors, the main floor and the second by going up the stairs.

" The inside is really nice... " Zach commented.

" Thank you, go ahead...sit " the older male said gesturing to the couch with Zatch sitting down. " Just wait a moment " Haganta said leaving the living room and headed to the kitchen.

As the teen sat on the couch he gazed at his surroundings covered in a few paintings and a few photos including one with a gorgeous woman. One area inparticular he noticed was a wall covered in what appeared to be rewards.

" Sorry for the wait " the older man said bringing out a tray that had two cups of coffee steaming away.

" It's fine. The woman in that photo, is she your wife? " the teen asked blowing on his cup while Haganta turned around to see what he was talking about.

" Oh, but X wife to exact. We were married for 8 years, but eventually things couldn't work out anymore " the older male explained as he sat down.

" My bad, didn't mean to pry into your private life. "

" That's alright, I assume your also curious about the wall over there? "

" I am actually " Zach replied drinking from his cup.

" Before marrying my x wife. I used to teach at Yale. "

Even this was unexpected especially from Zach's standards. " Yale University? That's a top school to get into. What did you teach? "

" Biomedical Engineering four about nearly 12 years. Afterwards I became a tutor been here and there around the world. "

" Geez, a tutor that used to teach at Yale? Never heard of that before " Zach commented continuing to drink his coffee.

" True, but it is a small world " Haganta pointed out.

" By the way, where's your bathroom? "

" Up the stairs towards the left "

" Thank you " Zach replied quickly rushing up the stairs in a few seconds. Then almost immediately he saw another door right near the bathroom.

( That's got to be it ) he then opened the door to the bathroom and closed it while silently closing the door to the room next door.

Much to his surprise there were all kinds of stuff, containers filled with unknown material and a few prescription bottles. The weird thing about them was that a few of them were marked with an X while other bottles were marked with a check mark.

Without much time to waste the teen pulled out a small plastic bag and one of the checked bottles, he opened up the bag and poured in what appeared to be some kind of salt before he closed the bottle and sealed the bag. He instantly did the same thing with the X marked bottles, opening another bag pouring in something that resembled salt like in the other bottle.

After making sure the bottles were all in place Zach got out of the room and headed to the bathroom silently closing the door, flushing the toilet and turned on the faucet.

" You alright in there? " Haganta asked knocking on the door. " Yeah, just finishing up " the teen replied drying off his hands and exited the restroom and walked past Haganta down the stairs.

" Thanks for the cup of coffeee. Good bye "

" Anytime good bye! " Haganta replied back watching Zach leave out the door and hummed to himself in curisoty. " Hmm. Not even a slight reaction... "

* * *

 **May 15th Sunday**

 **Time: Mid Day**

Zach was now in his normal clothes.

Once again he denied hanging out with Max and that of course concerned the long black haired teen. After reassuring his friend Zach had instantly headed home and had only recently arrived by Haganta's home and knowing that he would be tutoring Roku and Zera right now seemed like a good time to try and figure out how to get back to that weird theater.

" Here's that weird app " the teen said examining his phone to see that it indeed still had the strange eye. " When I left that place, it said you've returned to the real world. So this has to be the reason how I ended up in there. " As he was tinkering with the device there was now a map and small bar that read "Theater" on it. " So this is a Navigation app for that other world? "

He finger was mere inches away from the app. " Alright, let's do this " Zach said trying to sound brave but deep inside he was afraid of whatever lied within the other world that could kill him.

The teen then pressed onto the button with a voice coming out of the phone.

" _Haganta residence... Theater of... Fear... Beginning navigation._ "

Zach gazed at his surroundings and a feeling that felt him the need to stop. A weird aura began to cover his vison and saw that the sky was changing.

He noticed that the eye for the app was on the entire screen. The thing was beginning to glitch all over the place. The world soon began to become distorted with a weird red and black distortions began to coat the house itself. Before long all he saw was the theater.

" I was right...it can bring me back " Zach said in awe as he walked up the building and as he did his weapon had returned to him. " Nice " he imitated an Australian accent.

 **Location transfer: Theater of Fear**

He was now examining the area around him. " I came through the front, but even if I decided to leave they'd probably lock it up so I won't escape " Zach said collecting his thoughts.

( Let's see...if there's this main entrance, then there must be another way inside. Huh? ) he noticed something on the right and saw that it was a ladder.

" One way to find out " he said to himself as he began to climb up and in only a few seconds he was now up on the roof top. " Okay, let's find an opening " Zach muttered and began to examine the area and soon enough he found what he was looking for an open window with a rope close by.

( The figures that work here have got to be retarted or something ) he said to himself after securely tying the rope and threw it down the open window. Soon enough he went down inside.

" Okay, getting in and escape route check. Now let's find out what going on here " he whispered to himself and went into stealth mode and grabbed two small glass bottles from a shelf.

Within moments Zach was dashing through the hall of the theater. He then paused and looked around the corner to see a guard on patrol.

( Wait for it... ) he muttered to himself as the guard stood there for about a few seconds before he turned around resuming his patrol. Zach trailed the guard and without any thing said he jumped into the air and beheaded the guard turning him into a black cloud.

( No loot huh. Guess it only appears when they turn ) Zach made a note and continued to navigate through the area. He darted through the hallways and as he did Zach stopped infront of a door that would most likely lead to a movie room.

Very silently he opened the door and sneaked inside. " Shit! " Zach cursed and rolled to the left because he was nearly spotted by one of the figures dressed up as an Usher wearing an orange suit.

" That was to close... " he noted and poked his head up to examine the area. There were at least 4 ushers in total and he had to get around them somehow.

( Okay, Zach, think...think. What could I use where I move...? ) he then looked to his right and noticed a door leading up into the top seats the balconies.

( There we go. ) Zach said and slowly crept his way behind the seats doing the very best to silence his footsteps like an assassin would.

He stopped slowing his breath as an Usher was mere inches away from him before it headed down the isle of seats letting him roll to the other row of seats.

He continued to repeat this process about two more times and all of the silent moving paid off as Zatch now made his way up to the balconies.

( Even though this place is evil, it's not half bad. Wish we had movie theaters like these today there way more badass then the simple ones ) Zach commented as he hid in the front row of seats noticing an Usher was up there with him.

With quick movements he got pass the usher and just to be on the safe side he beheaded the figure turning him into a black cloud. Zach then headed towards and open door way and noticed a closed wooden door with the words Movie Room engraved in gold.

" Movie room? " this perked up the scarred teens intrist and went inside. Once he was in Zach saw why the room was titled Movie Room because there were hundreds of old looking movie reels neatly organized on a bunch of shelf's.

" Whoa... " he said in awe and walked up the shelves and noticed that all of the movies had weird names.

( Heights, Deep Water, Thunder & Lightning, Inner Demons. This list just keeps going on ) Zach said to himself before he noticed one movie title.

" Arachnophobia " Zach quickly grabbed it with his eyes widening in realization. " Oh my god... " the teen breathed because Momo's name was on the movie reel meaning that every single one of these reels was able to play back every single victim he ever tormented.

" These are all of his students... " he said in horror and set the reel down. He then noticed something on a nearby desk. It was a piece of paper but it was to old.

" A telegram? Really old school. " he then began to read it. " ** _Note to self stop. Be sure to switch the movies from the first and second floor stop. Make sure to hide the keys in plain sight stop._ **"

Zach put his right hand underneath his chin going over his thoughts on what it could mean. " The first and second floor? I better keep this me with me for a future reference. "

As Zach put the telegram in his pocket something covered in a white sheet. He narrowed his eyes and walked over to it. Very slowly holding his breath he reached out grabbed the sheet and threw it off.

His eyes widened in fear and was trembling. He uncovered a movie poster and drawn on it was both Roku and Zera with the top part saying coming soon.

After a few moments he gritted his teeth and punched the poster ripping a hole right in the middle kicking it down afterwards and began smashing all of the films reels in the room.

Once Zach was satisfied he burst out of the room and stood on top of the balconies.

" Haganta! " Zach yelled out. " **Haganta! You son of bitch!** " the teen yelled out getting the attention of the ushers in the lower level before they turned into ghouls with what sounded to be an alarm going off in the background.

" Hraaah! " he gave off a war cry and jumped from the balconies impaling one of the ghouls with his blade turning it into a black cloud.

The other ghouls snarled away as they closed in on the teen and with the anger fueling his adrenaline he charged forward and quickly killed three of them with one swipe of his blade and followed it up by cutting another clean in half.

Five more ghouls jumped out of seat rows right towards Zach who jumped into the air as well killing them one at a time causing them to turn into black clouds.

" **Has someone called out my name?** " a smug voice asked making Zach turn around to see the shadow of the tutor himself with his versions of Roku and Zera.

" Haganta! " Zach roared out charging forward jumping right towards his foe only to be knocked back by a guard. As he regained his footing two more guards appeared out of nowhere grabbing him by the arms holding him in place while their leader chuckled in amusement.

" **Well, this is most unexpected. If you were smart then you shouldn't have come back Aurico,, and yet here we are again. So? What do I owe the pleasure of you coming back to my theater?** "

" I know what've you done! " Zach snapped at the shadow showing no fear but pure rage and anger alone.

" **Me? I don't know what your talking about boy..** " the shadow said mockingly.

" I know what you did to your old students! You've been using them as lad rats, drugging them and recording there pain. How low can you get?! "

Shadow Haganta laughed. " **Big words coming from someone who could die. However it is all for a greater purpose**. "

" Purpose? That's dam lie! " Zach snapped. " How many people placed their trust in you? How life's have you scarred for your twisted games?! "

" **Heh. Don't you know this by now? It is way the road to greater success that leads to a brighter future. Even if you must make a few sacrafices and erase a few mistakes.** "

" And what does that make my little brother and sister?! " Zach snapped. " They put their trust in you as well. Now your going to use them as guinea pigs to further your experiments?! I've talked to Asumi, and I know what you did to your other students! "

Haganta laughed and gave him a round of applause. " **You've playing detective have you? Dangerous game your playing**. " He then began to pace around Zach with the guards still holding him down.

" **In truth I wasn't going to do anything to them. That is until you came in the picture** " he kneeled down locking into the teens eyes with his evil yellow pupils. " **Out of all the ones given a dose of my formula...somehow your the only one I've seen who is immune to it's effects.** " He then stood back up and walked back to where he stood.

" **So it makes me wonder...do they to posses antibody's for my formula? Even if it is considered inhuman. It has to be done. They have no problem with it do you?** "

" **No we don't Master** " the twisted versions of his siblings replied as he eyed Zach.

" **But, if your willing to, consider it. Become my lab rat. Your blood alone could change the course of history itself in the making itself.** "

" Shut the hell up... " Zach whispered.

" What did you say? Speak up " Shadow Haganta said swearing he gave him his answer to die.

" **I said shut the hell up!** " Zach snapped " You may fool everyone that your a good person...but in the inside I only see a demon! Even if I die in the end...I will make you pay! You hear me Haganta!? **I will make you pay for everything you've done!** " The teen declared roaring with all his might.

All of the sudden the area began to warp around the teen followed by a sharp pain was felt within the teen. Never in his life had he had felt so much pain throbbing with his head like a beating heart about to explode. This sensation was causing him to growl in pain thrashing about taking the guards by surprise keeping their hold on the teen while confusing Haganta.

" _At last...At long last...our contract begins! "_ a dark demonic voice echoed through the teens eardrums and as it continued to speak he broke out of the guards grips and grabbed them by the heads and slammed them down onto the ground causing the very ground to shake killing them instantly followed by a bright blue light appearing around his face.

" _This evil soul must pay for the pain and suffering he has caused! Let me loose from the chains of reason! With my power you will be able to show your rage! Use it as you see fit!_ "

Within an instance a pitch black face mask decorated with silver bolts appeared covering Zach's eyes. He then gained an evil wicked grin and gripped the mask with both of his hands attempting to pull it off. " _I am thou, thou aren't I. Let the inner beast within your rebel soul escape! Your justice, your path, your vengeance will begin!_ " the voice roared as Zach soon ripped the mask off of his face.

After a quick moment of pain a demonic-beast appeared behind Zach. A hound It was, an enormous coal-black hound, but such a hound as mortal eyes have ever seen. Fire burst from it's open mouth, it's red eyes glowed with a smouldering glare, its muzzle and hackles and dewlaps were outlined in flickering flames. Never in the delirious dream of a disordered brain could anything more savage, more appealing, more hellish be conceived than that dark form and savage face sending sheer terror within Haganta's eyes.

" I hear you loud and clear " Zach replied still holding the insane smile upon his face while the beast growled. " Do you feel that Haganta? This is the same fear you stained on your victims. You will never bring this to my siblings! Show him our vengeance! **Hound of Baskerville!** "

" Humph. Deal with him " Haganta said now leaving with three of the remaining guards exploding into black and red slime and together they reformed into a massive cat entirely made out of electricity that roared away.

" You dam monsters are starting to piss me off! **Hound!** "

After the command was given the hellhound roared away and lunged right towards the lighting beast only to howl in pain causing the hound to skid back to Zach keeping on that feral growl and disappeared as his mask reappeared.

Soon enough it roared into the ceiling causing multiple large bolts of lighting going straight down towards Zach who had managed to dodge it. After he successfully dodged the attack and charged forward.

" Hraah! " the teen gave off a war cry and delivered a hit to the Raijuu but as he Zach only received a powerful shock sending him flying ten feet.

" My blade couldn't do anything against that thing nor could Hounds attacks ...But what about this? " Zach then ripped off his mask making the Hound of Baskerville reappear snarling away.

" Attack! " Zach cried out before the hound opened it's maw and released a powerful stream of fire hitting the monster square in the face making it stumble back a bit.

" _Allow me to feast on this foe!_ " the Hound roared making Zach chuckle for some unknown reason. " Go on right ahead, hopefully this'll increase our bond of trust. Enjoy yourself. "

Before long it gave off a powerful hair raising howl that would send deep chills into a regular individual's soul.

Once that happened multiple sounds of running echoed the halls and soon emerged four grey hellhounds that surrounded the Raijuu snarling, growling and barking at the monster.

" Alright boys sic'em! " Zach yelled out before one by one the hounds lunged forward with the teen not far behind. Then in only a matter of seconds with movements like that of ninja's they unleashed a fury of countless attacks and once they were done Zatch struck a pose holding his crescent blade outwards while Raijuu spurted out lots of blood.

" **Glory to master Haganta!** " the thunder beast cried out it's last words as it turned into black cloud like all of the other enemies while the other hellhounds disappeared.

The battle was now over and Zach was tired as he fell onto his right knee. He then looked forward and locked eyes with Hound of Baskerville's glowing red eyes bright as the flames covering it's body.

" _I am at your command, I shall always be with you, the rebellion that lies deep within your soul._ " The hell hound said before vanishing and Zach's mask reappearing.

( As much as I hate to go now, I'm out of steam. But at least I'm more prepared ) Zach said to himself as he gathered whatever strength he had left and got out of the area.

* * *

 **TAKE YOUR TIME...**

* * *

Zach was now in the room where he sneaked in.

" At least I lost them " the teen noted and then recalled The Hound of Baskerville.

( What was that? I never seen nothing like that in my life, and yet it feels like I know it. Huh? ) Zach then noticed something his clothes had changed.

He then found a mirror and examined the changes he had underwent. His clothes were no longer normal.

He wore a black tricorn that had two of it's edges burnt off resembling withered feathers. He also wore a gray duster coat with a black underneath including a high collared short cape draped over the coat's shoulder held together by a chain. He also wore a black gauntlet decorated with gold ornaments on his right arm. While the left had transformed into what appeared to be a metal robotic claw. He also wore black trousers stuffed into black metal boots also decorated with gold ornaments. Lastly there was a reddish bandana covering the lower half of his face meaning his entire identity was covered up with the black mask decorated with silver bolts.

( Wow, now this is some real kick ass shit right here ) Zach complimented himself and examined his new metal claw. ( My clothes changed...so that does mean even my prosthetic? Cool. Super cool )

He commented to himself soon snapping back into reality and headed up the rope.

* * *

 **TAKE YOUR TIME...**

* * *

" You have now returned to reality. Welcome back " the phone said while Zach was doing his best to recollect breathing.

( That was insane. Huh? ) Zach examined himself. " My clothes are back to normal including my prosthetic. Maybe it only works in that other world? That has to be it, there's no doubting it. "

The scarred teen then shot back up. " I need to ask mom something " the teen breathed in realization and headed towards the station.

* * *

 **Location: Aurico Household**

 **Time: Evening**

Right about now Ruraka appeared to be doing some kind of paper work sitting on the table with lights helping her out including a roast beef sandwich on the side.

" And...done " she said sighing back in relief and eyed her sandwich and grabbed it. " Now I can take my time with you. " Without any seconds thoughts she dug in and at the same time Zach came out of his basement room.

" Dang, roast beef sandwich right after dinner? " the teen asked the raven haired woman who looked to him and swallowed.

" Well what'd you expect? Working like this makes me hungry and don't you deny it either, because that's in your genes. "

" So that explains why I...you know what never mind " Zach said changing the subject pulled out a chair and sat down. " Hey mom? Can I ask you something? "

" Sure. What's on your mind? " Ruraka asked with a little food in her mouth that he could understand.

" I've been curious... " Zach began. " How did you meet Haganta in the first place? "

" Oh that? Well just about a month until school started. I explained the situation on how were trying to find a school for both Roku Zera to attend and he agreed. "

" Okay, but did you ever do any background checks? "

" Yes I did. A lot of them are good reviews only a few say he was bad. But it didn't seem like much figuring the kids complained about him. "

( That's really suspicious...Maybe I can find more answers after going back. ) Zach noted to himself. " Okay...so um...have we ever had any luck finding a new school for them? "

" Yes. It's not far from where we are either. It took a little while trying to budge them, however I got them both enrolled. "

" So that means the tutoring with Haganta will end soon? "

" Yes it will, we can't afford him forever. Our deal will end on June 9th, I beleive. Why do you ask? "

" No reason. Just wondering on the situation with them that's all. " Zach replied and headed down to his room basement and towards his calendar.

Zach then brought out his notepad and counted up the number of days he had.

" Let's see, they began on May second. Today's the 15. " Zach said as he began to add up the number of days he had to take care of the Shadow Haganta.

" Okay, 13 days have passed, and he'll do it on June 9th and that's only in 25 days. That should be enough time. Once I get the whole lay out of the Theater of Fear it'll be set. But..just in case...I better go over to the clinic tommorow and find out what exactly this stuff is " Zach said talking about the bags full of the stuff he grabbed from Haganta's room the other day.

So tomorrow his mission will begin, for right now he must rest up regain his strength if he wanted to take him down. And this time he wasn't gonna be alone for the Hound of Baskerville would fight alongside him.

 **Mission Start!**

 **Days until Deal with Haganta Ends: 25**

* * *

 **To be continued**

 **Persona's shown in this chapter.**

 **My oc characters Persona,**

 **The Hound of Baskerville**

 **Ghouls**

 **Flauros**

 **& Raijuu **

**For those that don't know a Raijuu is creature from Japanese Lore. Made entirely out of lighting it takes the shape an animal and is a companion to the thunder god Raiijin. As for it's Tarot the Tower.**

 **Now replying to my reviewers**

 **The Celestial Sky Dragon**

 **Well thanks for being honest and I do hope that your satisfied with what you found behind the door. Plus, how'd you like the Persona I've chosen for him?**

 **Lelouch of Zero.**

 **Welp, here you go hoping it was everything you were hoping for and that you like his Persona.**

 **Also for those that are wondering how this will play out. Let's just say it will most likely involve a few days skipping ahead, so there's a heads up. I'm sure your all curious on when the Phantom Theives will show right? Only time will tell. So just take my word for it, kay?**

 **See you all next time.**

 **G King!  
**

 **Out!**


	5. Chapter 5 Going Deeper

**Hi everyone! This is the G King brining you all another chapter of my Persona 5 story! I'm real glad that I've gotten into this. So enjoy!**

 **(This chapter to has been slightly updated as well. But only to fix the small mistakes.)**

 **Chapter 5**

 **Going Deeper**

 **May 16th**

 **Monday**

 **Time: Early Morning**

 **Weather: Sunny**

 **Days Remaining Until Deal Ends with Haganta: 24**

 **Location: Train Station**

The station now comes into view and Zach was in his school uniform examining the weird app on his phone.

( Is this thing is a navigation app brought me to that other world, then does that mean other people have those kinds of places? ) He narrowed his eyes at simple though of that idea.

As he kept examining his phone Zach didn't notice someone in particular walk up towards him snapping Zach out of his thoughts.

He looked to his right and much to his surprise it was the new transfer student.

" Good morning " Ren greeted him to make small talk.

" Morning " Zach replied. " Hey your that transfer student right? "

" That's right. Everyone seems to know. I'm Ren. Ren Amamyia. " He said extending out his hand that the scarred teen shook.

" Zach, Zach Aurico. I'm in the same class, third row. "

" Oh yeah, I seen you there a couple of times. Also I've seen you a few times, around Yongen-Jaya do you live somewhere around there? "

" Hmm. Do you live around there to? "

" Yes I live in Café Lablanc. Have you ever been there? "

" Eh, I've only been there once... really good coffee too. " Zach commented as the train now just arrived. " Oh, trains here. See you later " Once that was said both teens got on the train with Zach quickly catching a seat and began to read a book.

On Ren's end a black cat with blue eyes slightly peeked out of his bag.

" He's defiantly interesting " the cat commented with his friend nodding in agreement as the train rolled on

* * *

 **TAKE YOUR TIME...**

* * *

 **Time: After School**

 **Location: Takemi Medical Clinic.**

Zach is now seen entering inside the Max's home. But it was also the work place of Tae Takemi. The inside of the clinic itself was simple layout a few seats near a plant and a few things on the wall hear and there.

" Excuse me " Zach said making her look up from her work.

" Oh, hi Zach. "

" Hey Doctor Takemi. "

" You here for a refill on the pain pills? "

" No the pains haven't been bothering me. But I figured that I should give these to you " Zach said now brining out the bag full of the contents he had managed to steal from Haganta's place.

" What are these? " the older woman asked already having a bad feeling of what the contents in the bags were.

" I have no idea. Just found these things lying around and I figured that if they are drugs I'd turn them into you. Seems like the responsible thing to do right? "

" Well that is true. I appreciate you getting off the streets is the right thing to do. But you should have turned it into the proper authorities. "

" Yeah I know, but I'm also curious to know what it is, so I figured you would like to check it out. "

" Now that you mention it...I don't recognize this kind of substance. Care to find out what you found? "

" Yes mam " Zach replied and headed to the examining room.

After about a few minutes of waiting and testing the results were in.

It now shows Zach sitting on the bed in the exam room while the dark blue haired woman sat on her stool.

" Well Zach you defiantly brought me something really odd. "

This perked up Zach's interest. " What do you mean? "

" This substance is crushed medication pills mixed together. Who ever was gonna take this would see a lot hallucinations. "

" It's that bad? "

" It is " she said shifting in her seat writing down some notes. " This is serious. Taking to much of this will kill a person. On top of that who ever made this was no ordinary drug dealer " she then looked to the scarred teen. " Where did you find these? "

" In the back streets of Shibuya. "

" I see. From now on Zach, be careful as you make your way through there, understand? "

" Yes mam " the teen nodded. " I'll see you later. Bye " Zach then left the clinic and walked out into the streets of Yongen-Jaya.

( A drug that causes hallucinations...this serious. But I need to figure this out. Is Haganta really doing this for his entertainment and experiments? Or is he doing this for another reason? The only way to find answers is in that other world. )

* * *

 **TAKE YOUR TIME...**

* * *

 **Location: Theater of Fear**

" Alright back in we go " the teen said now back in his other clothes with his prosthetic transformed into a metal claw. Just like before he made his way to the secret way in and out on the roof.

* * *

 **TAKE YOUR TIME...**

* * *

With footsteps quiet as a mouse and slithering like a snake the teen did his absolute best to avoid causing attention or having to fight. If he was gonna survive this place then he needed to be quick and think one step ahead of the enemies. If a thief and a spy could sneaky, then so could he.

The one thing that seemed to confuse him the most was the Haganta in reality and the one in the other world. Both of them acted entirely different like yin and yang. So if the Haganta in reality didn't act funny then that he concluded that without a doubt maybe this place was a world that was created from the mans point of view.

For the reason why his house was a theater was a rather big and strange question. If he was a scientist then why wasn't it like some kind of laboratory? Or even an insane asylum, the questions just kept coming with no defiant answer to neither of them yet. But it was answers that Zach was seeking, and he was determined to find out more.

The scarred teen also would have to figure out another way to get to the top floor, meaning he'd have to use the elevator that would most certainly a not a good idea considering a lot of movies involving elevators. So he would need to figure out another way up in the worst case scenario. He also remembered the pamphlet he grabbed while escaping the first time, only problem was, it didn't provide that much useful information.

After making his way through the first movie area Zach soon remembered something that he had found the other day.

" Oh yeah there's that telegram " he said to himself brining the piece of paper out of his pocket. " **Note to self stop. Be sure to switch the movies from the first and second floor stop.** " he then putted the telegram away.

( Hmm? This is no doubt this is the first floor, the area I woke up in was a basement area. So that means there's another room full of movies. Better find out ) the teen said to himself as he moved silently through the upper balcony of where his awakening occurred.

The one thing he noticed was that the masked figures he killed would return every time he returned meaning it was infinite. There would be no end to them, the more reason keep to stealth.

As Zach eyed the usher he noticed an open ventilation shaft. Once the usher moved away Zach darted inside and began to crawl his way through.

( Talk about a lot of terrible ventilation ) Zach commented as he exited out and found himself in another long hallway with a guard on patrol.

" Time for a little bait... " he muttered before throwing a glass bottle in the opposite direction echoing the halls.

" **What was that?!** " the guard asked not noticing Zach hide behind a chair while heading to the source of the sound.

" Heh, works like a charm " Zach darted his way through the hallway and then came upon a secured door. " Uh oh. This ones locked. I need to find a key...but who... " he paused looking back towards the guard on patrol.

" ...Has it. " Zach finished his sentence and darted from hiding spot to hiding to spot slowly getting closer and closer. When the moment was right he beheaded the guard turning it into a small black cloud and noticed something shiny on the floor.

 **Obtained Key**

" Neat " the teen commented and made his way back to the door and inserted the key into the hole and unlocking the door.

The room he was now in appeared to be some kind of surveillance room filled with screen on a nearby wall.

" Were they watching me? " Zach asked himself examining the screens. " Second floor. That means the third floor will have it to. I'll need to figure something out when I get to that floor.

" Huh? " he noticed something on the wall and much to his luck it was a map. " Awesome " he took it off the wall and laid it down on a small nearby table.

" Let's see...I'm in the surveillance room in the first floor. The way up to the second floor is through here. Then the area I'm probably looking for will be somewhere around here near the entry to the second floor. All and all going good as planned " Zach said before he heard the door open.

" Shit " Zach cursed turning around to see it was a guard.

" **You think you can sneak around easy do you? Time for you to face punishment** " the figure said now exploding into a black and red slime before reforming into a set of ghouls including a tall red demon wearing a set of robes wielding a large bladed weapon.

" An Oni? Seriously? " Zach asked as he quickly dodged an incoming attack and clean cut to an incoming ghoul.

" Sick'm boy! " Zach cried out ripping off his mask summoning fourth the Hound of Baskerville that tackled into the ghoul making it crash into the wall turning into a black cloud.

The Oni then slammed it's weapon down but Zach was quick to block the attack. But with the sheer strength the demon had it forced him on one knee.

" I don't think so " the scarred teen said ripping off his mask once again making the hound reappear snarling at the Oni before it released a powerful dose of it's flames burning the demon to a crisp and into a black cloud.

" Phew... " Zach said catching his breath with the hound disappearing and his mask reappearing again.

" Good thing I have Hound of Baskerville. But I don't get one thing, to bring him out each time, I got to rip my mask off each time as it disappears my mask reappears. Got to do the same process again? Geez that's kind of an inconvenience. " He sighed as he got up.

" But it don't matter, at least got some extra defense " the teen commented as he grabbed the money littered around the area.

 **Obtained 4500 Yen**

With all of the money collected he made his way toward the door.

After making his way out he noticed another door leading to another opening through the left.

" Hmm. Wouldn't hurt to find out what's in here " Zach noted as he approached the door and gripped the handle. " Feels really odd to " the teen said as if he sensed something off with what lied behind the door as he opened it.

" Huh? The hell is this place? " Zach asked gazing around the room. It appeared to be another storage room filled with old boxes, and much to his surprise it fazed for a moment showing Haganta's living room.

" Is this is living room? If this is supposed to be an alternate reality wouldn't the distortion or whatever not be weak? " the teen asked himself as he sat down.

" This...is so confusing... " the teen said to himself

* * *

 **TAKE YOUR TIME...**

* * *

It now switches over to show Max's room tinkering with his phone.

" Huh? The hell? Out of range? " this confused the black haired teen as he sat up. " Okay let's try this again " he then proceeded to text Zach another message but like last time it wouldn't go through.

" Seriously...Where the hell is he? " the long black haired teen called out as if an answer would be given but none came.

* * *

 **TAKE YOUR TIME...**

* * *

The Safe Room as Zach decided to call it now came back into view.

" Better get moving " Zach then made his way out and headed down the hallway followed by him quickly sneaking through past the guards and stumbled into what appeared to be another movie room.

" Okay, what the hell is in here? " Zach asked himself beginning to examine

" Hmm? Wonder what's special about this movie reel? " Zach was entirely confused but soon noticed a small key taped on the wheel itself.

" This is one of the keys. One down, now just need to find the other " the teen whispered and then noticed a projector missing a movie reel.

" Wait a second... " the teen whispered to himself. " Maybe I can find more answers if I play this? " Zach said putting his right arm underneath his chin. " Yeah. The more I learn what drives Haganta, the more I can learn can learn about him. "

* * *

 **TAKE YOUR TIME...**

* * *

" Let's see, this goes here...and you go there... " Zach said putting in the movie reel on the roll and once it was in place Zach inched his finger closer to the button that would turn the projector on.

" Here goes nothing... " the scarred teen breathed turning on the machine making him smile in victory as the light shine on through the small window and onto the big screen.

A loading circle appeared counting down from 3, 2 and finally 1 before showing a title reading My Fallen Glory and showed a black and white picture of Otaro Haganta himself.

" _Hello. I am Otaro Haganta and I thank all of those who have chosen my establishment for their entertainment. If your all willing to lend a ear then please, allow me to tell you all my story_. "

An old looking school comes into view. " _At the age of 19 I attened the University of Yale studying under Biomedical Engineering as well as Psychology._ "

( He didn't say anything about that when I talked to him about it ) Zach noted and continued to listen on.

" For at least five years of my life, I'd studied under the most brilliant minds in the world. But the one thing I found most interesting about the human brains was fear. So for a number of years I've conducted my research and found out that every single human being has a phobia of something even when they have yet to realize it. With all of my knowledge I wanted to tap into the greater purpose of fear.

But in the end my colleges all laughed at me saying my ideals were only a fantasy. Oh how I proved them wrong. Under an "accident" I created my special formula worked successfully with only a few flaws to it's perfection. "

A black and white photo showing Haganta lecturing students in class appears followed by a photo showing him with a woman wearing a wedding dress. " Over time I myself became a teacher and married. Even in those years I still eager for my formula to reach perfection, along the way I'd acquire multiple pupils who became fascinated with my work. They to were eager to help me perfect it. "

A black and white video starts to play showing Haganta inject something into one of his pupils. After a few seconds the student started thrashing around while the other pupils began taking notes.

" _Sadly that pupil didn't make it. I was put on trial but no less made it through. Like the old saying I've only won the battle but not the war itself that cost my carrier. The man that had despise me my whole life ruined everything, with his ties our home was lost everything we worked for had ultimately been taken from us. But in the end he paid with his life._ "

Zach just couldn't believe what he was hearing as he reads a newspaper reading head master of Yale committed suicide, reason still unknown.

" _Sadly that is all there is for now. If you wish to learn more then please tune in next time_ " Haganta's voice said before the fill ended leaving Zach to go over a lot of his thoughts.

( Dam...never thought that I find this out. He caused the deaths of two people with his formula. But what hell else is driving him? ) the teen asked himself and looked at the stop watch to see that he had been inside for well over 2 hours.

( Time's up. Better get back home... ) the teen said to himself as he exited out of the room.

* * *

 **May 17th**

 **Tuesday**

 **Days Remaining: 23**

 **Time: After School**

 **Location: Shibuya Academy**

" Finally, now we got out of there " Max breathed as he and Zach exited out of the school to the gate stretching his arms into the air.

" I don't know you always get why you think this place is a prison. "

" That's cause I'm free as a bird now and this bird you cannot change. "

" Nice use of Lynard Skynard " he gave him a quick high five. " See? Didn't I tell you they were a good band? "

" Hell yeah. You got me hooked onto to them now. "

" Whoa...okay pal, don't make it sound to weird. "

Max waved him off. " I'm kidding, but seriously thanks for introducing me them. Want to head to the arcade today? "

" Sorry man, but I got other things to do. "

" Like what? "

" Plenty of things. Don't take this the wrong way, but I'm just not in the mood for it, okay? "

" Fine " the black haired teen sighed. " Well...see you later.

" Right back at ya " Zach said taking making his way to the station leaving Max who narrowed his eyes.

" Not this time Zach, " Max whispered to himself.

* * *

 **TAKE YOUR TIME...**

* * *

 **Time: After School**

 **Location: Shibuya Backstreets**

The teen had now arrived near Haganta's home.

" Okay, if I recall correctly...then there should be another key in another movie room. On the Second floor. "

He focused his gaze at the weird app. " Here wo go " he breathed pressing onto the app making the weird feeling come over him again as the area began to change.

 **Location Transfer: Theater of Fear**

* * *

" Geez these Safe Room's really come in handy " Zach commented exiting out of the one he had found yesterday. For some odd reason Zach was able to make his way around the whole place a lot faster then having to start from the very entrance.

" Okay, now let's head to second floor " with quick movements like a ninja Zach made his way through the hallways while avoiding the guards making sure they didn't see nor hear him.

Nearly only five minutes later Zach found himself at the elevator pressing onto one of the buttons making the doors open with him entering.

He turned towards the bar where all of the buttons were and pressed on the number 2 closing the doors and headed up.

* * *

 **TAKE YOUR TIME...**

* * *

The Elevator dinged making doors open followed by the teen peeking head out and examining the area.

" Clear " he then made his way through the halls with very little effort and stumbled upon another movie theater showing what appeared to be some kind of martial arts movie in a bamboo forest.

" Okay, now where to go? " he asked himself and noticed another door close by. He tried to open it but the thing was locked. " Shit " he then looked around the area and found nothing, no ladder, no vent to crawl through absolutely nothing that could help him move along.

" Maybe I need a key? " he asked himself. " Come to think of it, I haven't seen any guards or ushers around this place yet. So there's got to be a trick. "

Zach turned around and looked towards the screen. " Why isn't this even moving? It's almost like this movie was put on pause " he said touching it but recoiled back as he touched the screen.

" What the hell? " Zach stuck his hand through the screen again and saw it was rippling like water. " Okay, now this is getting even more weird by the second. "

With a shrug of his shoulders the teen went through and much to his surprise he was in the screen. " Whoa... " he said in awe because he could touch the bamboo sticks, the ground and he could also feel a breeze of air.

" Geez, this place is just getting more strange. It is real cool though. Now which way do I go? Right? " Zach slowly began walking in the direction that he said and felt something unusual.

As he went through he now noticed his surroundings had changed. It was in a jungle and saw that he was in the other room, the one he couldn't get to because of the locked door. " Hmm, so this is like a secret route, like in those cartoon where you jump in the paintings and out " Zach noted now hearing a crunching noise.

( Oh you've got to be kidding me... ) Zach said noticing a T Rex on the other half of screen eating it's meal but he quickly got out of the screen before he turned into it's next meal.

" Freaking Jurassic Park " the teen said shaking his head in disbelief and continued to make his way through the area and noticed the upper balcony. Figuring out that the balcony could lead him to find one of the keys Zach made his way up through the stairs.

He opened the door and his suspicions were right, the whole room was filled with movies with the projector still rolling.

" Now time to find that key... " he then began to look through the film rills, examining each one carefully moving onto the next, looking for the other key that was mentioned in the note.

Zach was rather curious to know what they were for, maybe to lock something up? Or maybe even something that even Haganta himself would not want to anyone else to find out? All of these questions had to be answered if he was gonna protect his siblings.

" Hmm, there's nothing here that stands out " he noted and then noticed something odd about a movie poster its left bottom corner was flipped up. Pretty soon his efforts paid off as he ripped the poster off of the wall finding the movie reel with a key tapped onto it.

" Yes... " the teen whispered and went towards the movie projector turning it off along with the movie that was on there.

Zach put the movie reel in place and after it was all set Zach turned it on making a it project through the glass and all showing images of Haganta with his wife.

" _Like many men who had lost their life's work I soon moved back to Japan. As the years went by, my passion for the research faded and I turned to continue living my life with my beloved. Even though we lost our home, she and I managed to overcome the obstacles. As proof that we fought on she became pregnant with my future son. Oh how we what high hopes we had for our future together._

 _Sadly, the dream was shattered as man went into our home and shot her dead. "_

A photo is now shown depicting a man armed with a pistol shooting a pregnant woman much to Zach's surprise as it showed a courtroom followed by a corpse scene in an alleyway.

" _There was no evidence to support the case so he went free. Naturally I of course took action, making him pay for his life slowly, and painfully._ _It was then I realized that my research can be used to deal with those savages. Actions must be taken to prevent further deaths, if I'm able utilize their fears against them then they will confess there crimes. All of the scum of the earth will be judged not by the people who are in the law not by the heavenly gods, but by me._

 _Even if my methods of testing are inhuman, they will cower in end and everyone shall live in peace while knowing their fears..no matter what the cost._ "

" That's why... " Zach breathed as the film ended. " He's doing this all for revenge, and he don't even care. "

" **So now you know...** " a familiar voice said making Zach turn around to see Shadow Haganta himself. " **I knew you would find out the truth eventually, just never anticipated that you've cracked the mystery in a short amount of time.** "

" I get that your wife died b- "

" **What do you know?!** " Haganta roared. " **My beloved was innocent. And yet the bastard was able to be released as if he didn't do anything. He got what he deserved.** "

" And what does that make you then? Some kind of hero? Please I've heard of people like you before. "

" **You don't understand the value of what my research could accomplish, this is all for the greater good.** "

" Many such as yourself are always quick to speak about peace, but very slowly they concede to power. "

" **Because power begets peace you fool, it cannot happen in reverse. Those with power prey upon the weak and in the end see us as nothing more but mere insects in their eyes keeping us in line.** " He continued on. " **If there wasn't people like me then change would not occur, everything remains the same.** "

" And there he is... " Zach growled slowly walking forward " The monster that I will kill. " With that small sentence finished Zach dashed forward attempting to cut him down.

However much to his surprise Haganta was able to block it with his cane.

" **Kill me?** " Haganta asked arching his left eye. " **Your nowhere near ready to do that task.** " Zach grunted as he jumped backwards near a wall and at the same time Haganta was walking out.

" **Don't deny it, as you said yourself were all monsters. Now me a favor and die** " the evil being said making three figures emerge from out of the ground from black and red swirling energy before exploding into slime of the same color and from them emerged three large strange cats.

They all had smile like faces, a lot of hair, a long tail sticking up and some kind of silver crown who gave off feral snarls as they fired off volts of electricity that Zach was able to dodge rolling to the right side.

With his footing set he instantly ripped off his mask making the Hound of Baskerville appear giving off it's own feral snarl and released powerful flames from it's maw killing one of the cats that turned into a black cloud.

Growling in anger one of the cats lunged forward attempting to pounce on Zach but it was only received the end of his blade before he charged at the remaining foe and killed it with little effort turning it into a black cloud as well.

 **Obtained 4500 Yen+ Life Bead.**

" Huh, this might come in handy later " the teen commented putting it and the money in his pocket and dashed his way out of the room.

However most unexpectedly as he exited out of the room five guards came closing in exploding into pools of red and black slime turning into multiple large groups of ghouls.

" Grrrr...your all so annoying! " Zach cried out ripping off his mask once again making the Hound of Baskerville reappear again. Before long it began to gather fire in it's maw and released it towards it's enemies burning them all to a crisp and into black clouds.

" Whoa... " Zach breathed in awe as his mask reappeared along with hound disappearing. " That's a new one. Thanks Hound " the teen said and darted his way through the hallways and looked towards the screen of the movie theater.

" I wonder if that will be bring me somewhere else? " Zach dashed forward and jumped into the black and white alleyway passing by the corpse.

Much like the weird sensation like before he found himself in what appeared to be some kind of ship on the ocean as he looked to see that he was in another theater room.

" Ah, I was right " he jumped out and made his way out to another hallway with a door at the end of it near two open entries.

" And found another safe room. Nice " he commented entering inside to a room that was much like the first safe room as it fazed resembling the bathroom he was in only a while ago.

Then with the Safe Room he made his way back to the entrance while feeling the weird jelly like sensation he's actually gotten used to back to reality.

* * *

It now shows the scarred teen slumped against a nearby heavily breathing.

" You have now returned to the real world welcome back " Zach's phone said while he was entirely exhausted.

" That was way to close...But at least I've found out more. "

" Zach? " he quickly turned his attention to the source of the voice and much to his shock it was his best friend.

" Max? What are you doing here? "

" No where the hell did you even go? "

" What? " Zach was trying to act confused as he stood up.

" Don't lie to me man! I freakin followed you here! " Hearing this shocked Zach greatly as his eyes widened in surprise still listening to his friend going on.

" You there standing there for about a second before you disappeared and about two and a half hours later you come back all tuckered out. Bro, what the hell is going on? I'm worried about you "

" It don't matter. Just go home Max " Zach said now walking to the station but only for his best friend to stop him. " Let go of me. "

" Tell me what's going on " Max continued pushing the issue.

" I told you it doesn't matter. "

" Yes it does... " Max paused letting him go and began to trail his friend. " Zach, what the hell is going on? " His best friend kept ignoring him as he walked on. " My aunt told me that you stopped by the clinic the other day brining in some kind of drug, your out of range, and your here at Haganta's. Dude, talk to me, what's going on? "

Zach then stopped and gave off a frustrated sigh of defeat. " Alright. But we need somewhere private to talk. I have a lot to fill you in on. "

 **To be continued**

 **Persona's used in this chapter.**

 **Ghoul Arcana Death.**

 **Barong Arcana Emperor**

* * *

 **Well? Did you like this one? If so then please give me your thoughts on this chapter.**

 **Now replying to my reviewers.**

 **Bobby Jenkin's:**

 **Dude, I already got a digimon story. Nice thought but no thanks. If I was younger yes, but right now no.**

 **BloodDemon666:**

 **Thanks a lot! :)**

 **Lelouch of Zero:**

 **Happy that your satisfied with the result.**

 **The Celestial Sky Dragon:**

 **I am most happy to hear that you like The Hound of Baskerville as Zach's Persona. Didn't see anyone else use him, so figured why the hell not? Do something a bit cool. And hopefully you like the answers you've been given...for now at least ;) Wink.**

 **Lastly To JayH120 :**

 **Hehe, glad to hear that. Plus the funny thing about it, Arsene is also from Sherlock Homes. And you actually do have a good point on something.**

* * *

 **I'll now do the background story and Stats on the... Hound of Baskerville Level 28 and in this chapter it would now become a 29.**

 **Arcana: Death: Background**

 **A hellhound based off a fictional icon to the Sherlock Home's story The Hound of the Baskervilles that was believed to have cursed the family itself.**

 **Weakness Gun's and Bless. Strength Fire, and Physical attacks.**

 **Skills**

 **Attacking, Agilao: Medium Fire dmg to one foe. Chance of inflicting burn. Double Fangs: inflict light physical damage to one foe 2 times. Maragion: Medium Fire Damage to all foes.**

 **Enhancements. Fire Boost: Automatically increases fire skills by 25%. Regenerate 2: Automatically recover 4% of max HP in each turn of battle.**

 **Exclusive skill. The Pack when an enemy is knocked down increase All Out attack dm by 15%**

 **Strength 25**

 **Magic 17**

 **Endurance 32**

 **Agility 29**

 **Luck 16**

 **Next Skill LV 30**

 **Adverse Resolve**

 **Now until next time...**

 **G King!**

 **Out!**

 **P.S had crab and it was awesome especially when I dipped the meat in warm melted butter :)**


	6. Chapter 6 Growing Tensions

**Sorry for not being able to update everyone! I've been on a trial for a job so it's been busy. On top of that had to fix up a few of the chapters.**

 **(This chapter has also been updated as well, especially for one part in particular.)**

 **Chapter 6**

 **Growing Tensions.**

 **May 17th** **Tuesday**

 **Days Until Deal with Haganta Ends: 23**

 **Time Evening**

 **Weather: Cloudy**

 **Location: Tae Medical Clinic Upper Level, Max's Room.**

The inside of Max's room comes into view with Zach sitting on a nearby chair and the long black haired teen himself sitting on the bed.

As of right now Zach has given Max the total laydown of what's been going on for the last 13 days. All starting from him messing around with the weird app resulting in him being transported into another reality with Haganta's home turned into a movie theater. This highly confused Max. Zach also told him of the weird figures wearing masks that turned into different kinds of creatures.

" So your telling me that there's an alternate reality you accidently stumbled upon, filled with monsters, an evil version of Haganta and weird versions of your siblings? "

" Yes " Zach said giving him a deadpan expression.

" And your also saying that this weird app on your phone just transported you into this other dimension? " Max got a nod. " Okay, dude did you take any of that crap before you gave it to my aunt? "

" You think I'm lying now? " Zach asked.

" Well, yes and no. Can't make up my mind though. "

" Max I'm telling you the complete truth " he pointed to the weird app. " This thing, brought me there, and it also can take me out to. But ...that's not the weird part of it... "

" Why? "

" Could you give me a piece of paper? Because I don't know even know what this thing is... "

" Here... " Max gave Zach a piece of paper on a clipboard and pencil. After at least four minutes the scarred teen gave back the clipboard.

" What is this? " Max questioned very confused at the sketch depicting the strange beast and Zach's mask from the other world.

" It's...hard to explain... " Zach began. " When Haganta had me cornered, I said my possible last words. Then all of the sudden I got the weirdest and sharpest pain that I've experienced in my life. My head was just throbbing like it was gonna explode. After that I heard it speak. "

" This thing...spoke to you? " Max said pointing to the sketches and back to Zach who once again nodded.

" Yeah, the voice felt kind of evil, yet familiar. Then this mask, that I drawn, it just... appeared on my face...I suddenly felt an urge to take it off, and hurt like hell. "

" Why? "

" The mask actually felt like it was apart of my face, so I literally ripped off a small portion of my face. "

" Yeesh... " Max winced already getting an idea of what it could look like. " What happened next? Is that where this thing appeared? "

" That's right. This thing is called Hound of Baskerville. "

" You mean the actual hellhound from the Sherlock home's story? Why did it appear after you ripped off this mask? " Max asked raising his left eyebrow.

" I honestly, can't even describe it. Hound said that he was apart of my soul, something about a manifestation of my rebellion. "

Max put his right hand underneath his chin. " A manifestation of the rebellion of your soul? " he repeated to himself. " Just what the hell is this thing?. "

" I'm just as baffled as you are " Zach exclaimed. " And my clothes change to " He added.

" What the hell is going on here? This is to weird. "

" Not only that, but I've gathered a lot of information...regarding Haganta's past...enough to show the rumors about him are true. "

" Well what did you find out? " Max asked with an eyebrow raised.

Zach narrowed his eyes. " Look, I'm telling the truth and if you don't believe me then I'll prove it. "

" And how are you going to do that? I don't have that app on your phone. I looked up on any possible hints and nothing, it's almost like a ghost. "

" Good thing I got myself a valuable resource " Zach said to himself already having a decent idea.

* * *

 **May 18th** **Wednesday**

 **Days Remaining: 22**

 **Weather: Cloudy**

 **Time: Lunch**

 **Location: Shibuya Academy**

Right about now Zach was making his way through the hallways and as he did so he heard someone cry out making him turn around to see that a someone had tripped.

" You alright? " Zach asked making Takamki look up to the scarred teen.

" Uh...yeah...I just only tripped by accident. "

" Well let me help you up " Zach said offering a hand to the blonde who accepted it and was pulled up.

" Thank you "

Zach nodded. " No problem " he then continued to walk on.

" Hey wait... " he paused. " What's your name? "

" Zach Aurico I'm in the same class as you...and I already know your name Ann Tamaki...not through the rumors though...I just memorize all of my classmates names. See ya "

" Bye " Takamaki replied and walked in another direction meeting up with Ren and a spiked blonde.

* * *

The scarred teen then exited out of the building and into the school yard that had the only tree in the area.

He scanned the area and found who he was looking for a certain purple haired goth.

" Hey Ayami " Zach greeted making the goth look up from her book towards the scarred teen.

" Oh it's you... " she said almost she was surprised to see him again. " Can I help you with something? "

" Yeah, actually I need you to do something for me " he kneeled down and handed her a piece of paper.

" Ah...I see. Meet me at Inokashiro Park. While were at it, let's exchange contact information " the goth said with both teens brining out there phones and exchanged their info on one another.

* * *

 **Time Change:** **After School**

 **Location: Inokashiro Park**

 **Weahter: Sunny**

" Why are we meeting with this girl? " Max asked as they made their way through the park.

" Because, the information I found seems real, but I'd also like to confirm that it's real to. "

" Makes sense. But who is she anyway? " Max continued playing twenty questions.

" During my investigation in the other world I did a little digging and found out that she used to be one of his students. One of the many that he's used as a guinea pig. She apparently has a lot of knowledge about Shibuya mainly looking into crime cases as a pass time hobby. "

Max looked at Zach giving him a blank look. " A hobby? "

" Yep. Ah, there she is " Zach said pointing over to Momo who was sitting on nearby table.

" Thank you for meeting us Ayami. " Zach greeted as they sat down.

" It's fine " the goth replied and looked to Max. " Is he an accomplice? "

" Asami, this is my friend Max Taekami. Max, meet Asami Tsumura. "

" Hi, how you doing? " Max asked extending out his hand that she shook replying " alright. "

" So Asami, have you been doing any research ever since we first talked? " Zach asked getting straight to the point.

" Actually yes. I already did it ahead of time figuring that you would want to talk again " Asami answered brining out a small folder.

" It took a while digging this up, but I managed to find this news article " the girl said opening the folder. " If you been to his house then you'd notice he's taught at Yale from 1980 to 1998. "

" That's 18 years " Zach noted. " Usually people like that they would teach at a university like that for a lot longer. "

" I noticed that to... " Asami chimed in flipping over another page. " It turns out, in 1997 a student died during a test with a new medicine. " the girl brought out a piece of paper and handed it to Zach who read it.

" James Hefry died after experimentation with new medicine. Haganta is suspected of murder. "

" Seriously? " Max asked in disbelief as Zach passed it to him so he could look at. " Holy crap he was only 21. If he's still here then that means he was prove to be innocent? "

" Yes that's right " Asami confirmed and brought out another picture " This is a photo of him at his trial. He was about 38. "

" What happened next? " Zach inquired.

" He was harassed by the locals and it got so bad that by the new year he retired after teaching 18 years at the university. But there were a lot rumors saying that the faculity members made him resign. Only about three months later the head master had committed suicide. "

" What? " Max breathed.

" Here's a newspaper of the event " Asami said passing it to Zach who shook his head in disbelief while Max examined it.

" Holy shit... " He breathed.

" The FBI investigated this case they analyzed the cause pf death and according to them that he was heavily overdosed on a unknown drug. "

" So somebody had to kill him. Did they find out who it was? " Zach asked with Asami shaking her head.

" No, the case went on for 6 years. There was no suspect, no leads nothing. The case still remains unsolved to this day. "

" Wow... " Max breathed. " This was done on purpose. "

" What else did you find out? He told me that he had a wife, what ever happened to her? " Zach asked making her sigh and shake her head flipping over another page.

" It's not a very pleasant story... " Asami began. " You see only about 8 years later his wife was killed. Someone broke into his Haganta's home and shot her dead " Asmai then brought out a photo of the beautiful woman herself.

" She was only 42 and was 4 months pregnant. "

" Wow... " Max said shaking his head. " What ever happened to guy that did this? "

" He was arrested two weeks later, put on trial and with the lack of evidence he was free to go. Then about three days he had committed suicide by shooting himself in the head. "

" That's brutal way to die " Max commented while Zach put his hand underneath his chin going over his thoughts.

" Okay, thanks a lot Asami. " The scarred teen stood up shacking her hand following the motion with Max.

" My pleasure...It's not everyday that you find someone who is interested in detective work. See you later in school "

" Totally " Zach replied back as he and Max went in another direction to a nearby railing close to the water.

" Well Zach? Did you find out what you needed to know? " Max inquired.

" Yes and no. " Zach replied confusing his friend.

" I don't understand... " the long black haired teen exclaimed. " What did you find in that other world? "

Zach looked up to his friend. " In the other world Haganta himself confirmed killing the one who shot his wife, and hearing that the headmaster died of a drug overdose? Then there's not doubt in my mind that he killed him. The reason why I wanted to meet Asami out here was to make sure that the information that I found was true, and it was indeed. "

" Now I get why you were trying to keep this a secret... " Max said sitting near his friend leaning forward onto his hands. " You knew no one would ever believe you, because who in the hell would? " He looked to his friend. " Have you told your mom about this yet? "

Zach shook his head. " No. She believes Haganta's side of the story, what could I even do? Tell her that he's insane pretty soon is going to use your youngest offspring as lab rats? Of course she wouldn't believe me. Then there's the fact that she's leaving on her business trip in two days. "

" Couldn't she just cancel it? " Max inquired.

" She don't have much of a choice...she either goes or we lose our home. Even if she was successful she'd never forgive herself for not being able to protect Roku and Zera from Haganta. "

" Do you even know what to do at that place? "

" The only thing I can guess is that if the Haganta in that other world is taken out then he won't harm them. "

" You can't be serious... " Max said in shock. " Are you really considering that? "

" Only as a last resort... " Zach replied knowing what he meant. " What would do if your were in my shoes? What would you do if your mom and aunt was in danger Max? What would you have done, honestly? "

" I'd try to think of something... " he then gasped in realization. " We could leave a tip for the Phantom Thieves... "

Zach quickly looked to the long black haired teen. " No. Not happening... "

" What? Zach...they claimed they can steal a persons heart, they said that about Kamoshida and he practically confessed everything he's done. "

" You think I haven't considered that? Max, I started this and I'm going to finish this, even if I have to resort to killing him. "

" This bullshit Zach! " Max cried out standing up glaring down at his friend who stood up and locked eyes. " You don't think I care about Roku & Zera? I'd give my life to protect those two, they practically siblings that I never had, and your my brother. I can't standby and let you get yourself killed! "

" And you don't think I've thought over the risks? What the hell could and can happen? I'm not dumb Max. " The scarred teen said firmly and sighed. " I'm sorry man, but...I'm not trying to play the hero. I just want those around me to be safe. " And with that Zach made his way home leaving Max alone as he then punched a nearby tree in frustration.

" Damn it... " the blonde cursed to himself.

* * *

 **May 19th,** **Thursday**

 **Days Remaining: 21**

 **Weather: Heavy Rain**

 **Time: After School**

 **Location Theater of Fear.**

Once school was done Zach didn't hesitate and headed straight towards Haganta's home and into the other world he went.

As of right now he was inside of one of the "safe rooms" examining the map he had managed to obtained from the first time he entered the other world. Zach figured he'd had to make some progress. The reason why is because he has been going to this place for well over 12 days and in only two more days it'd add up to 2 weeks.

" Let's see...I've been here... " the teen pointed to a part of the map. " I've also been in the basement area. And through these movie rooms. Looks like I'm now, somewhere on second floor.

Zach then examined the film role. ' What's so special about one? " Very curious to know what

" Shit... " the scarred teen cursed because the projector was busted, so that meant the film role can't be played. He knew that he would need to find another projector somewhere else.

He continues dashing down the hall. But all of the sudden he crashed into something making him land right on his back ' Ow...What the hell did I? ' " Oh shit... " the teen gasped because he had just bumped into what appeared to be a female movie vendor.

In an instant she emitted a loud shriek, causing two guards to burst out of the floor. Then they all turned into a pool of blackish red slime. The two guards had transformed into large scorpions with human heads.

Meanwhile the female shadow turned into what appeared to be a woman, with no arms, but instead a body of white snake. She wore a gold headpiece and had what appeared to two fin like wings replacing the arms.

" This just got so freakin weird... " the scarred teen mumbled to himself as he then began to dodge the attacks from one of the scorpion monsters. The creature then lashed it's stinger out forward multiple times leaving large holes in the floor. It then tried to snap it's claws at Zach who kept dodging the attacks and narrowly dodged the stinger. He then cut it off making it scream in pain and jumped backwards to give himself some distance.

Zach swiftly rolled to the side and saw that one of the scorpion men was charging. So he improvised, running up the wall and stabbing his weapon into the creatures back making it scream out in pain, turning into a black cloud.

He then noticed the snake woman was waving it's body side to side before it then spewed out a powerful beam of ice. The scarred teen kept on dodging the attacks and intercepted an attack from the other scorpion monster and jumped to the side. He then reached for his mask and ripped it off.

" **Hound of Baskerville!** " he was instantly wrapped around bright blueish white energy bringing forth the large coal black colored hellhound that gave off a set of demonic barks before growling away baring it's fangs coated in fire startling the monsters before him.

The snake woman fired off another beam of ice.

" When it's fire against ice, fire always wins. **Burn them to ashes!** " With the command given the hellhound extended out it's maw spewing out a large amount of flames intercepting the attack and pushed on through soon making the two monsters scream in agony as they were burned alive turning into black clouds just like the others.

With the threat extinguished the energy swirling around his body disappeared along with the hound and his mask reappearing on his face and got on a knee to catch his breath.

' This thing helps out. But, only down side is I got to keep taking my mask off to bring it out. Got to get moving though ' The teen then continued to make this way through halls and stumbled upon a locked door.

He then looked around the area and it was there he noticed a small vent with cover. " Bingo " He said to himself and spotted a nearby vendor, he climbed up the thing with ease and very slowly crawled over to the vent. With two left turns made and a right turn he was on the other side of the door. He saw the lock on it and removed it and then spotted a nearby treasure chest to his right.

Even thought the temptation was great he decided against it, but changed his mind and opened it up.

 **2000 Yen Collected.**

" Cool, at least I get cash from this place " the scarred teen commented and then continued darting down the hallway and stumbled upon the elevator. He then tried to call it, but instead nothing happened. Confused he tried again and still nothing.

It was then he noticed that right next to the buttons was an id scanner.

" Shit... " Zach cursed. He then looked to the right and saw a large poster showing Haganta himself with the poster saying.

 **The Theater of Fear shall entertain you all!**

Seeing this really pissed him off and clenched his right hand tightly went up towards. " Fuck you... " He cursed and ripped the poster off of the wall and much to his surprise the poster was meant to hide something. It was a door.

" What's behind here? " He asked himself and reached for the nob seeing that it was unlocked. He quickly looked the way he came and closed the door behind him.

" Where are the lights? " He asked himself as he brought out his phone, turning it on and giving him a light. He used it to scan the walls

He then played the projector letting the light shine onto the walls looking for the switch that he soon found. After switching the lights on he found himself in an old dusty room that looked like it hadn't been used in years.

' There sure are a lot of unused rooms. Just how much bigger can this place even get? ' He asked himself mentally and then noticed a tarp covering something up. He took the tarp off and revealed it to be a movie projector, only this one was made out of solid cooper. He also noticed

He then played the machine making it shine onto the wall and upon doing so it turned into a screen with only a door.

" Hmm, guess in this case, the light shall show the way " he said as he then reached for the nob and went inside.

Once he was through the door Zach was blown away to see that all around him were large metal cabinets.

He then proceeded to rummage through the drawers, some of them were empty with some already being opened, it was just one huge mess. But then he opened another one reached into their and

" Oh my god... " Zach breathed in shock. " I have to tell Max... "

* * *

 **TAKE YOUR TIME...**

 **Time: Evening**

 **Weather: Heavy Rain**

Right now Zach was home inside of his room jolting down notes of what he's found to make sure he wouldn't forget about it by accident, because he couldn't afford to.

He brought out his phone and texted to Max

" Max? Are you there? " He sent the message and got a reply.

 **Max: Yeah I'm here.**

 **Max: What's up?**

" I found something in the other world " Zach texted back.

 **Max: Are serious?**

 **Max: What did you find?**

 **Max: Zach?**

" I figured it out, I found something he don't want other people to know " the scarred teen replied.

 **Max: Well?**

 **Max: What is it?**

" It turns out, he has a lot of 'connections'. " Zach texted back.

 **Max: What do you mean by that?**

" I don't even want to say. But I found out why the victims never get any justice... " he paused texting back to Max letting this sink in and continued. " He...has bribed a few officers that were in charge of the investigations. "

 **Max: Wait a minute...he bought them!?**

" Yes, and thanks to his them, nearly all of the information regarding his victims have been erased. So that means even if someone had proof, they could just get rid of the evidence in an instant. "

 **Max: This is bullshit!**

 **Max: Even worse, the police wouldn't believe us at all with all the information you found.**

" That's right. Even if we do turn this information to the police, they would get suspicious on how we got this info. Plus the ones that are bought under Haganta would only just hide and destroy the evidence, so he's got like a protective barrier everywhere. " He replied back.

 **Max: Except for that other world, right?**

 **Max: It defiantly seems all connected to his conscious.**

 **Max: The only way to take him down is through the other world.**

 **Max: What is it like in their?**

" A large movie theater straight out of hell. It's almost like an RPG video game. Sometimes when I kill a few of those monsters they leave money. " Zach texted back.

 **Max: Seriously? Are there multiple floors there to?**

" Hmm. That's right. There are three floors, and a basement. As of right now I'm still trying to navigate the second floor. But it only gets harder. It's all connected to this app. " Zach continued messaging to his friend. " Remember you saying something about how life itself is like a theater remember? "

 **Max: Yeah, what about it?**

" It turns out this thing is a navigation app you enter a location, but instead that location is the person itself. And then there was the key word. When you said Theater, it saved it. "

 **Max: So by me saying the keyword unknowingly...that's how you entered the other world.**

 **Max: This just insane. Are you sure I can't go in there with you?**

 **Max: I want to help.**

" No Max. It's to dangerous. " He texted back.

 **Max: So what!?**

 **Max: I'm not gonna stand by waiting for you to possibly die.**

 **Max: There's got to be at least something I can do.**

" I'm sorry. But to much is on the line here. "

 **Max: Zach come on man,**

 **Max: You know that I care bout Roku and Zera. Hell I'd give my life to help them.**

" My family means the world to me. You're my best friend, no one can replace that. I'm sorry " After he texted the last message he ended the chat and sighed loudly rubbing his temples. Zach knew Max for a long time, he was always there for him. He also helped Zach recover through his physical therapy. Hell if anything he proudly calls him a brother, they always had each other's backs threw thick and thin.

Deep down, Zach wanted him to help, but he just couldn't stand the thought of loosing his best friend. With a sigh emitted he slumped down on his bed closing his eyes just so he could at least get some rest and worry about more problems by next following day.

* * *

 **TAKE YOUR TIME...**

 **Date: May 20th Friday**

 **Days Remaining: 20**

 **Location: Unknown**

 **Time: Unknown**

 **Weather: Cloudy**

As Zach's seemingly eternal slumber continued through an endless void a light tune of a piano disrupted it for a moment. But he didn't really seem to fazed by the noise that was until the sounds of footsteps were heard followed up by a loud clanging noise.

" Wake up mut! Now! " A strict loud female voice said.

This made him begin to stir away, slowly opened his eyes to see the surroundings have drastically changed. He was no longer in his room, instead. He was laying right on the floor Inside of a large cage. He also noticed his clothing. It resembled that of a wolf costume pajama's with the ears and tail. He also noticed that his right arm was handcuffed in heavy chains attached to the walls while his left was still a stump. His left leg was also bound, attached to a steel ball, not to mention some kind of spiked collar around his neck.

Highly confused at what was going on Zach got up, making his chains rattle as he headed over to the door of the cage. Once he reached to it, he found out that the length of his chains reached all the way to it, followed by a laugh.

He looked forward to where the voice originated from. This 'person' or whatever it maybe, was sitting on a chair behind a brown desk. It looked to be an old man. He wore a black suit with white undershirt and white gloves. It's facial features were rather strange. His skin was pale, had thick eyebrows, his gray hair was thinned out leaving the center completely bald. His nose was long and pointed as were his ears. There were also his eyes, creepy blood shot eyes all the way open and a frozen smile on his lips showing his teeth.

" I see that you've come. Welcome to my Velvet Room " The figure greeted. " I've been waiting for you're arrival. "

" Waiting for me? " Zach asked in confusion. " What's going on? " The questions kept on pouring and all of the sudden something hit the bars making him wince from the sound.

" You'll speak when you're told mut! " The same strict loud female voice said and it was there he saw two 'gaurds' in the front of his cell.

They were both female, at the age of 12 from their appearance with platinum blonde hair. They also looked to be twins. They both wore indentical uniforms. Long sleeved blue blazers, with a white blouse tucked in. They also wore matching ties, that were kept to look formal, white shorts and black shoes. The two also wore blue hats on the brim, but was barely able to make out what they were.

The girl on the left had her hair braided into a single going down her back. She also wore a black eyepatch covering her right eyes with a bold gold V on it leaving her only yellow eye exposed and held on a clipboard. From Zach's point of view she was most likely the calm and collective type.

The girl on the right was defiantly the one who hit the bars cause she had a metal baton. And unlike her twin this ones hair was tucked into neat buns on both sides of her head. She also wore a black eyepatch only it covered her left eye leaving her right yellow eye exposed. As for his evaluation she was more of a tsundere.

He glared at the one with the baton. " I'll speak when I feel like it. I'm confused at what's going on, so I have that right. "

" That you do... " the strange man replied. " To answer you're questions, first I am Igor and I am the master of the Velvet Room. " He said now giving out his name.

" This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter. It also reflects the state of a you're heart. I'm also surprised at the state you are in. Instead of a prisoner of fate, I see only a beast chained down, imprisoned, bearing scars of his past battles, and seeking to breath in the winds of freedom. " He said most likely referring to the state Zach was in.

" But that still don't answer on how you were waiting for me. " Zach corrected and once again the girl with the baton hit the bars.

" Our master is getting to that! Be patient mut! " Christine said banging on the bars again. " Your really pissing me off...stupid dog. "

" I see you've met Caroline and Justine. They serve as my assistants here in the velvet room. In truth, I've been watching you for some time now. Zach Aurico. "

" Watching me? " the scarred teen repeated the words he heard.

" Your rebellious heart within you is strong, not only that, but you already broke the chains, freeing your inner spirit. "

" Inner Spirit? I don't understand. "

" Our master is refering to tourney Persona. " Justine explained to Zach. " It is the

" You're rebellion maybe strong, but not enough to break the remaining chains. You are also like the other visitor, was also scorned by society. Many have shunned you away, because of the scars you carry, from you're battles against life, both with intentionally and unintentionally mixed with personal matters. "

" Other visitor? What are talking about? "

" That's not important right now. " Igor replied. " Like many others you've been robbed a place to belong. You also have to be aware, ruin lies ahead in the future. To prevent it, you must help the Trickster. "

" The Tricktster? Coming ruin? Why should I believe you? "

" Because you care for the being of those around you. " Igor replied. " I also sense, that you feel the need to walk alone to face you're problems such as like a lone wolf. In order for you're rehabilitation to resolve. You must be willing to accept others for their help. "

Justine looked to Zach. " What the master says is true. Persona's are also the strength of heart...When you have stronger bonds you're Persona's power will gain. "

Caroline joined in. " There's countless people who go through worse crap then you. So you ought to be more open. Do that and you'll get stronger. "

" Indeed. For you to gain more power, you must be willing to accept help from others once you do, you're rehabilitation will begin. I shall give you a card that represents who you are... " Igor then spread out a deck of tarot cards and picked one on the right third row. He picked it up and revealed it to Zatch. " Number 13, the tarot card, Death. "

" I'm not a murder. " Zach defended himself only to get a light laugh from Igor.

" It is not what you think " Igor reassured. " Out of all the cards in the Tarot deck, this the most misunderstood, the same as you. It can be the most fruitful and positive cards in the deck " Igor explained pausing let it sink into the teens mind before continuing. " Death can also attribute to the end of a major prospect of ones life, that may bring the beginning of something, far more valuable and important. For one door to open another must be closed. Such as the day when you're father passed, that day you lost something great. "

The scarred teen tightened his grip on the bar he was holding knowing he wasn't wrong. " Even though it was never easy, you let go of that pain, ready to embrace new opportunities and possibilities. By doing so it can also be you're renewal. " Igor then threw the card forward, it went through his chest and into his heart. " Remember, Death is not about the end of life alone, it also encourages change. "

" You better be thankful of our masters words stupid dog! " Caroline said sternly before a buzzing noise was heard.

" It is time for you to return to the real world. We will continue our conversation some time later on " Igor said as the world around began to change meaning he was beginning to wake up.

* * *

Meanwhile at the same time Max was in his room. The long black haired teen had gotten up early the reason was help him go over his thoughts. Such as wanting to help his friend save Roku and Zera from being a lab rat among other things.

He also thought about the Phantom Thieves. Ever since the incident with Kamoshida he always wondered was it even possible to change a persons heart? At first they seemed to be only a rumor with the bastard himself only finally who succumbed to his guilt.

Then, it was only recently that he started checking out the Phantom Thieves website. He was utterly amazed by how many people were being helped by these mysterious individuals. The latest buzz was something having to with the famous artist Ichiryusai Madarame. He's learn that over the past few days the Phantom Thieves were targeting him. Something about plagiarizing his pupils work.

After hearing all of these stories, Max began to slowly believe in them. The mental break downs to him were a sign that something was coming, and maybe, these thieves were the answer to many unanswered prayers. Perhaps it also marked a beginning were the foul hearted of human beings would diminish. He believed that if anyone could help, it was them.

" I'm sorry to do this Zach... " The long black haired teen said now opening his laptop and instantly got on the Phantom Thieves website.

" But I ain't gonna let you die. " He said before putting up a request on the Phan-Site.

 **To be continued.**

 **Now replying to my reviewers**

 **Lelouch of Zero: Happy to hear that you are pleased with the story.**

 **The Celestial Sky Dragon: Well, I got flaws that's for sure. But I'm fine with it, and don't worry about how he meets with the main cast, plus there will be a lot of stuff in the next few chapters. You'll see what happens, or in this case, read what happens. Heheh. Just be patient kay?**

 **ARSLOTHES: Well I'm real glad that you are enjoying this story and don't worry, pretty soon they will have their interactions, trust me ;)**

 **Ford114: First off geez, thanks for reviewing my story, i'll be sure to check out yours when I have the chance.**

 **chapter 1. What Nintendo game refrences?**

 **Chapter 2. Yep, that's right, only he didn't eat it. I sure as well wouldn't try it.**

 **Chapter 3. Hmm.**

 **Chapter 4. Oh okay, I get where you are going with that, I was confused but after hearing confidant I'm intuned now.**

 **Chapter 5. What Jurassic Park reference? I just wrote what sounded good to me.**

* * *

 **Persona's used in this story. And quite frankly these Persona's aren't used in Persona 5. A lot of them come from Persona Q The Shadow of The Labyrinth witch is only available on the 3DS**

 **And just so that you're all caught up, here's the list of Persona's used in this Palace.**

 **The easy ones to beat are the Ghouls. Arcana, Death.**

 **Basically The higher floor you're on the more tougher enemies show, just like in any Palace.**

 **(Early minor sub boss) Camazotz: Arcana Temperance. A bat god in Mayan mythology.**

 **Raijuu: Arcana The Tower. A creature from Japanese Lore, made entirely out of lightening. It takes the shape of an animal and is a companion to the thunder god Raiijin.**

 **Ganga: Arcana Priestess. A snake like goddess from Hindu mythology that personifies Inida's most sacred and purifying rivers.**

 **Papilsag. Arcana Emperor. A guardian of the gates of paradise, this beast with a head of a human and a body of scorpion appears Mespotamian lore.**

* * *

 **Hi Everyone! G King here! Sorry about updating taking a little while. But needed to take a break to reenergize my creative juices for this story.**

 **While doing so, went to gamestop and bought myself an X Box 360 recharger for my controller because it was and is still awesome saves me money from buying batteries.**

 **Along the way stumbled upon the game THIEF.**

 **Hence the name, you play as a master thief named Garret in a 19th century setting somewhere in London maybe? Mainly because everyone has a British accent including both Irish and Italian.**

 **The main plot of the story is that he and a friend of his seen something they weren't supposed to and Garret gains a supernatural eye.**

 **Most of the gameplay is pretty decent, you can be really sneaky or just kill guards from the shadows with your bow and many conviant arrows.**

 **I prefer being an opportunist using the environment to my advantage and a shadow witch is me never being seen or detected by anyone.**

 **Aside from the the main story you can do side jobs to earn coin by stealing items left from right, anything that's shiny. Coin itself is very necessary to have in the game and it's important to spend wisely on either supplies, tools and donating to the poor to increase your skills. So if your a Persona 5 fan who loves stealing treasure then I recommend playing this because it gave me bit of inspiration.**

 **Over and all I'm giving THIEF a 9/10.**

 **A fine find indeed :)**

 **P.S I've also watched the first episode of Persona 5 The Animation and it is so awesome!**


	7. Chapter 7 Open Season Begin's

**Well, here's the next chapter of Hunter's Wake. Sorry for late updates, but when you get a new job and have to work 5 days a week, of course it can get in the way. And only have a little amount of time to write. Hell, now the only time I'm able to write is on the weekends, cause it's free. But I'm really wanting to cut just one day off, so that way I don't overwork myself to much. Even though it will mean sacrifice so be it.**

 **But enough babbling,**

 **:) Enjoy!**

 **(Note, This chapter has been slightly changed since I refixed and updated the other chapters in this story.)**

 **Chapter 7**

 **Open Season Beginning**

 **Date: May 20th, Friday.**

 **Days Until Deal with Haganta Ends: 20**

 **Weather: Cloudy**

 **Time: Early Morning**

 **Pollen Warning.**

As of right now both Zach and Max were on the train. From what you would guess right, indeed it was cramped up all as usual. Even after the argument the two had over their voice chat it didn't stop them from hanging out. But they both knew that a decision would have to be made sooner or later, just not now. Over the years since they'd known one another they would have a fight, and usually they would sort it out. So for the moment, both had mentally chose not to speak about the other world till their engines cooled off.

Zach meanwhile decided that he needed a break. The safety of his siblings was his top priority, even so he didn't want to over work himself to much. If he did then he'd have to answer some questions, and questions would only lead to delay of his mission.

" Geez, good thing we got some seats. " Max commented before he quickly grabbed his handkerchief and sneezed into it. " But it sucks...my allergies are still acting up. I'm surprised you don't have any around pollen season. "

" Eh, it never did bother me. I'm only allergic to wasps, hornets and bee's. That's all. " As the teens spoke to one another, they overheard a conversation going on. Sure they nosed in, but it also help passed the time.

" *sigh* I don't wanna go to work today..."

" You still work at that beef bowl place on central street? I thought you liked that place 'cause the pay was good. What happened? "

" Sure the pay's fine, but I'm the only one there at night. That job magazine said it was a fun, friendly workplace. I wish another part-time employee would join... "

" Sheesh, that reminds me a lot of my last job. It was the exact same thing he went through " Max spoke up.

" You had a job? " Zach asked beginning a little small talk.

" Yeah. "

" When was this? "

" Bout a year ago. I worked at the bookstore. They weren't able to keep me, it really sucked, but it was also relieving. "

" How come? "

" The occasional overtime, rude customers, and my boss was a dickweet. "

" Yeesh, I understand why now, the real world sucks at times don't it? " Zach asked.

" For sure... " Max replied as he slumped his head back onto his seat and once again sneezed into his handkerchief. " And I am not gonna enjoy this pollen one bit. "

 **Skipping towards Lunchtime**

The duo had just gotten their lunch and was heading to their usual spot before they noticed a bunch of other students gathered up infront of the bulletin board.

" Huh? What's going on here? " Max asked as Zach squinted his eyes leaning forward to get a better look.

" Oh, it's grades from the tests. " the scarred teen answered as they looked at one another. " Wanna match for it to see what our grades our? "

Max nodded as they did rock-paper-scissors. " One, two, three, shoot " they both launched their hands forward and sadly Max's scissors were crushed by Zach's rock. " Dam. " Max went over and made his way through the crowd.

' Wonder how I did, ' Zach wondered to himself as he waited for Max.

" Hm... nothing notable " a nearby voice said as Zach turned the corner of his left eye to see Ren walking in the opposite direction, just barely able to catch a glimpse of something in his bag.

' The hell? That wasn't his voice, then who's was it? ' He pondered and shrugged his shoulders as Max came back. " How'd we do? "

" We did just fine " Max replied smirking away and gave him the a okay sign with his fingers. " Now let's eat, I'm hungry. "

 **TAKE YOUR TIME...**

 **Location: Aurico Household (Yongen Jaya.)**

 **Time: Evening**

It was currently late at night and the scarred teen had just woken up to use the restroom. Once the call of nature was done he got himself a cup of milk, gulping it down instantly before heading to bed. However as he did Zach noticed

" Is that you Zach? "

" Yes mam. "

" Well come over here. " Ruraka requested making the scarred teen replied making his way over to the couch. " Have a seat. "

" Mom what are you doing up this late? It's not good for you. " Zach scolded making her chuckle.

" Well, first off, I'm glad to see you care about me. But listen...

" Let me guess mom, you have to leave tomorrow. " Zach knew instantly why she called him over there cutting her off.

" Yeah... " She said bearing a look that showed she didn't want to leave, but she had to. " Anyways, Zach, I need to ask you a serious question. Can I count on you to pick up Roku and Zera? "

Zach nodded. " Of course, I don't mind. Also mom? Have Roku and Zera been acting weird lately? "

His mother made a frown. " That's also something I wanted to talk to you about to. For the last 2 days. after I pick them up from their tutor, I'd noticed that they seemed to be seemed troubled.

This really made Zach concerned. " Did you ask what was wrong? "

" I tried asking them what was wrong, but they kept insisting everything was okay. My mother's intuition tells me something is wrong. Could you try and find out what's going on? "

" I'll see what I can do. But mom, since were throwing stuff out there, I don't trust Haganta. He might seem nice, but so did Kamoshida at school. Mom I'm really worried about them. "

" Zach, you have to hold on while I'm gone. I know, you're just trying to look out for them. But Haganta's a very nice man. "

" Mom, I'm telling you the truth! Roku and Zera are in danger! " The scarred teen said.

" That's enough! " Ruraka said getting up. " I will not hear another word, of this. I know you've got a lot of stress and a lot on your shoulders, but this wont get us anywhere. "

" Your seriously gonna take his word over me? " Zach now stood up. " If dad was here he'd know right away! "

SMACK! All the sudden she landed a hard clean right slap across Zach's face. " Don't you dare bring your father into this! "

" Why!? Huh?! Because you know I'm right! " The teen continued ignoring the pain from his mother slap since she never really did hit her children.

She then sighed. " Just, go to bed. Alright? "

Zach scoffed at his mothers choice of words. " You're unbelievable. When are you gonna stop letting people push you around? You don't exactly know half of the deal I have to face everyday either, but I can't say the same about you myself. What am I supposed to? Just smile and pretend everything's okay when it's not? Hell, no, he taught me to be my own person. " The scarred teen said fuming with anger, only for it to slowly die down. He then let out a sigh of defeat as well and headed to the stairs leading to his basement room.

" Were not gonna get anywhere like this mom. So wanna try this again tomorrow morning? "

" Yeah, " Ruraka said as she headed off to bed.

* * *

 **Date: May 21st Saturday**

 **Days Remaining: 19**

 **Weather: Sunny**

 **Time: Early Morning**

The train comes back into view and since they couldn't score any seats the duo had to stand up clustered up near the door.

" Hey Zach? "

" Hmmm? "

" You ain't gonna believe this, that transfer student went back into my aunts clinic. "

" What? " He looked to his best friend Why the hell is he there for? "

" You remember how aunty has been looking for a guinea pig? "

" Oh that thing? You were gonna do it, but then your mom said no. Witch I don't blame her for... " Zach commented remembering how she asked if he would take up the role. He did it one time, only for it to knock him out for two hours straight. " Don't tell me... "

" Yep, he did. "

" Wow... " Zach said shaking his head in disbelief. " He still alive? "

" Very funny...and yes he's alive. Infact, he's helped out a lot with her research, I've been thinking about doing it to. And also there's another thing... " Max paused. " The cop came back yesterday. "

" The one that harasses her? Geez, don't that asshole have anything else better to do? "

" I'll tell you who does this...it's that god damn guy who had her removed from the hospitals! He keeps on giving the guy reports. Aunty is dealing with enough shit as it is. Hell, she's doing her best to help out my mother for crying out loud! Is that seriously a crime or what?! "

" I know, that's just crazy " Zach said shaking his head in disbelief.

" Dude, by the way did your mom leave today? "

Zach sighed sadly. " Yeah... "

" Something happened last night? " Max asked with his friend nodding his head.

" We got into an argument about Haganta, and well...we didn't get anywhere last night. Earlier we apologized with one another and came to the conclusion that she would try her best to cut the time off by one week. So that means we wont have to wait very long. "

" How'd Roku and Zera take it? "

" They were sad to see her go. But they knew she had to. Also Mom said that she finally found them a nearby school not to far away. So that's good to hear. "

" Did you try to tell her about Haganta again? I mean, there in danger, and with her gone, who knows what the hell he could do to them. "

" I know-I know. Mom even told me that there starting to act weird to. "

" That's not good. You need to find out what's going on. " Max said in a firm voice.

" I plan on to. We possibly only have a full week before mom comes home, and in the mean time, I need to figure out where I can find him. "

* * *

 **TAKE YOUR TIME...**

 **Weather: Sunny**

 **Time: Morning**

 **Location: Shujin Academy**

As of right now Zach was in class listening to his Ms. Usami's lecture while writing down details on his progress so far in the Theater of Fear.

' Let's see, the next time I go there, I'll need to figure out a way to open the door. '

" Aurico-san? "

' There's got to be like a key or something, but knowing the usual rpg's I usually play, I'd have to find them. "

" Aurico-san... "

" Either they'd be in a chest, but no, they'd have to be with an enemy shadow. "

" Aurcio-san! " The teacher said practically hollering at the teen snapping him out of his thoughts.

" Huh?! Yes? " He asked.

" Are you even paying attention? " The older woman asked in tone much like when your caught grabbing a snack before dinner.

" I was mam. I'm telling you. "

" Very well then... Could you take a look at this? " She showed him the question to something having to do with a ratio of some sort. " What is the name of this ratio that Japanese architects and artists have liked using? Give me an answer. "

" The Silver Ratio. " Zach quickly replied in a bored tone earning an applause from his teacher.

" That's correct. You were paying attention " The woman said as she explained the difference between the too followed by the students whispering about Zach's answer mainly because it looked like he had other stuff going through his mind.

" It is true that mascot tend to have round-ish faces... Huh? Why are you looking at me like that? " Once again Zach heard the same voice from yesterday causing him to look around and then shrugged his shoulders.

' You've got to be loosing Zach, now where was I... ' The scared teen said to himself as he went over some idea's of what to do when he returned to the Theater of Fear.

* * *

 **TAKE YOUR TIME...**

 **Weather: Sunny**

 **Time: After School**

 **Location Shibyua Backstreets.**

So far school had ended for the day and Zach had just arrived at Haganta's home waiting for his siblings.

The door opened up followed by his younger siblings coming out of the house followed by the man himself. " I'll see you both Monday! Don't forget we got a major history lesson to work on. " He said getting a nod from the kids who headed down the steps and to the gate where there older brother was waiting for them.

Haganta noticed Zach and waved and was given one in return before he went back into the house.

" Hey guys " Zach said greeting his little siblings. " How was your day? " He asked as they walked off towards the station.

" Eh, it was okay, " Zera replied in a bored tone and yawned loudly. " We had to watch a bunch of history movies to help us come up with an idea for a history project. "

" Yeah, that's gonna be a real drag. " Roku added.

" Hey, knowing your history can have it's benefits and it's drawbacks. But no sweat, once you get into highschool a whole different story entirely. "

" And I'm glad that were small for now. " Roku said as gently rubbed his right arm with Zach taking notice.

He then grabbed Roku's right arm, raised up his sleeve and much to his shock there was a bruise. " What happened? "

" I-I accidentally tripped, and hit the table. " the boy replied.

Zach then looked down at his little brother. " Look me in the eye. Roku. " He got his brothers attention. " If there's something wrong, I need you to tell me. "

" Everything's okay, it was just an accident today. " Roku replied getting his arm out of his brothers grip.

Zach narrowed his eyes.

" Yeah, I was there, he did trip and hit the table " Zera insisted. " It was an accident. "

" Alright... " Zach said letting them off the hook but wasn't that entirely convinced

" Well, I need to go and grab us some dinner for tonight. Roku can I trust you to get Zera home safe? "

" Hmmm " The boy nodded.

" What are you in the mood for then? " Zach asked.

" Oh! How bout that good ramen in Akihabara? " Zera suggested eagerly.

" Pfft. Ten minutes to grab dinner and back? Okay. Anything else? "

" Could you stop by the manga shop? " Roku asked raising his hand. " Please? "

Zach chuckled before smiling. " Alright, I'll see what I can do " The scarred teen said giving them a thumbs up before the train just arrived.

" Remember, head straight home and don't talk to strangers! " Zach said as he watched them get on the train that headed to Yongenjaya while Zach headed the other direction to Akihabara.

' I know you're lying Roku, and it's only cause your scared. ' Zach said clenching his fist in anger going over his thoughts. ' Don't worry, that SOB is going down. '

* * *

 **TAKE YOUR TIME...**

 **Weather: Sunny**

 **Time: Evening**

 **Location: Akibarha**

" Ah, here it is " Zach said happily grabbing the last volume for full metal alchemist brotherhood. Right now he was in a large store primarily full of manga, witch considered by many anime fans/otaku's was practically paradise. He was actually a big anime fan himself, he just didn't express it to lively like everyone else does. Since the waiting time took at least twenty minutes to prepare Zach did they asked him to drop by the manga store to pick up two issues of their favorite series.

Roku had really gotten into My Hero Academia, and bought the first three issues and while Zatch was here he grabbed him issues 4 & 5.

Zera on the other hand, well despite being young the 4 year old was a beginning otaku. Plus since she liked magic, he brought her into loving Black Clover and Fairy Tail, buying her the first two issues for her birthday.

" Okay, got my stuff, grabbed Roku My Hero Academia, and Zera an issue of Black Clover and Fairy Tale. Over and all, I'm done. Now to get the dinner. " Zach hummed to himself and headed to the cash register.

" Huh? " The scarred teen looked over right shoulder and by sheer surprise alone there stood Asami browsing through a section of manga. " Asami? " Zach asked getting her attention.

" Zach? Hi, I didn't expect to see you here " the goth greeted walking up to him.

" You read my mind on that one. You heading this way? "

" Hmm " the goth nodded her head as they headed towards another area of the store.

" So what are you doing here? " She asked and noticed the basket full of manga. " A die hard reader to huh? "

" Yeah, but I'm mainly in the area to fetch dinner. " Zach replied.

" How come? " Asami asked putting another manga in her basket.

" Well mom, had to go on a work trip, so it's just me and my siblings. "

" Ah, I see. And how come your here? "

" They asked me to come by here to get them a few issues, on top of that I get to complete my Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood manga set. So that's killing two birds with one stone. But then again it's three birds in this case. " Zach replied while at the same time examining the different series that were nearby.

The goth looked at the contents of the basket. " Your little siblings read those? Color me surprised. "

" At least there not drugs. So that's good. " Zach said and noticed to his right was a shelf with multiple volumes for AGK. " You read Akame Ga Kill? Nice series, bit real brutal for my tastes. What else you got? "

" Black Lagoon and Overlord. You ever seen the anime's? " She asked and threw in the latest volume of one of the said in anime's into her basket.

" Oh yeah. But I like Overlord more. But hey, if you're really into intristing stuff two words, Soul Eater, the anime is great and so is the manga. "

" Hmmm. I might need to get the first issue now, to see if I'm interested " The goth said putting a hand underneath her chin considering the idea.

" How bout I let you borrow the first volume? " Zach suggested. " That way you'll know if your gonna like it or not, plus you know that money ain't wasted. "

The goth was bit taken back by the sudden offer. " Are you sure? I wouldn't wanna bother or accidently lose it or something. "

Zach chuckled at her surprised expression. " No it's okay, I trust you won't. But at least I know someone else is really into this stuff aside from Max. " Hearing this made the goth chuckle a bit confusing him. " What? "

" It's you, I never expected that you actually turned out to be friendly. "

He was a bit taken back by what she said. " I turned out to be Friendly? " Zach quickly figured it out and groaned. " It's because of those rumors huh? You don't have lie, I heard a lot about it. "

" Yeah... " Asami said sadly with her expression softening up a bit. " To be honest, I heard them say that you were a psycho path along with a few other things. But, you care for your little brother and sister, your even willing to look after them even when your mothers not around. Those people are dead wrong on what they about you. And I'm sorry for even believing them.. "

Zach shook his head. " It's okay. I'm used to it, people judge me, I laugh at them cause some are all just the same sometimes. " Zach said. " But I'm actually kind of glad that I got to show you that those rumors are wrong. I've heard some bout you too, about how you were like some kind of witch doing black magic or whatever, but I never believed them. I just wanna let you know that. "

Asami smiled. " Thank you. "

 _I am thou, thou aren't I, thou has acquired a new **vow...**_

It shall **become** the wings or rebellion that **breaketh...**

thy chains of captivity...

 _With the **Birth** of the Temperance Persona, _

_I have obtained the winds of_ _blessing_

 _that shall lead to freedom and new **power...**_

 **(x-x New Confidant acquired: The Temperance x-x)**

" Well, See you in school tomorrow, and I'll be holding onto you're offer. " Asami said now bidding her possible new friend goodbye.

" Right back, atcha. And I will " Zatch replied waving her goodbye, bought the manga and headed over to grab the dinner for that night heading home and at the same time felt as if a chain had broken off. Not psychically but deep down.

* * *

 **Date: May 22nd Sunday**

 **Days Remaining: 18**

 **Weather: Sunny**

 **Time: Daytime**

 **Location: Aurico Household (Yongen-Jaya.)**

As of the moment Zach was currently making himself a sandwich to snack on and before long a knock on the door was heard. He went over and peeked through the hole and saw that it was only Max.

He opened it up. " Hey Max, what's up? "

" Can I come in? I gotta show you something "

" Come in, come in " The scarred teen said letting his best friend inside the home closing the door. " Okay, so what'd did you want to show me? "

" Check this out " Max said showing Zach his phone. On the screen it revealed to the Phan-site and on it was some kind of post that resembled a ransom note of some kind.

" What is this? "

" The Phantom Thieves, they sent out a calling card. "

" Another one? Who'd they send it to this time? " Zach asked.

 _"_ Ichiryusai Madarame. The famous artist. Here's what the calling card says. _"_ Max grabbed the phone from Zach, cleared his throat before reading it out loud. _" : Sir Ichiryusai Madarame, a great sinner of vanity who's talents have been exhausted. You are an artist who uses his authority to shamelessly steal ideas from his pupils. We have decided to make you confess all your crimes with your own mouth. We will take your distorted desires without fail, from, The Phantom Thieves of Hearts._ "

" When was this posted? " The scarred teen inquired.

" Just only last night. " Max answered. " Kamoshida got a calling card to. And look what happened, he confessed everything he did wrong. If what there saying about Madarame is true, then I hope they succeed. "

" Even so, it could have been cause Kamoshida finally succumbed to his guilt. So what are really the chances of that happening again? I'm not saying I believe. But sometimes you gotta compare fact from fiction. That's just my opinion. "

" So what'll now? " Max asked.

" Well, I'm gonna need you to pick up Roku and Zera, because tomorrow I'm going back in. Can I count on you to get them back home? "

The long black haired teen nodded. " Yeah. But dude do you even got a plan? "

" Yeah, also there's something else the one thing I don't get. "

" What is it? "

" In the other world, my prosthetic becomes a metal claw. You know those bad ass metal arms those characters have? " Zach asked getting a nod. " Well it, apparently transforms into it, and when I come back it returns to normal. "

" It returns to normal? " Max put a his right hand underneath his chin going over his thoughts. " Okay, all we know is that other world is only accessible through that weird app. Then there's that Theater of Fear, that's connected to his consciousness. Maybe if that's how it is then it's cognitive. They see your concealed prosthetic as a weapon, so that has to be why it's like that. "

" So if that is the case, then maybe as long as they see it as real, then it becomes real? "

" Yeah exactly. " Max said showing his friend had guessed right.

" How do you even know this stuff? " Zach asked in curiosity.

" Hey, I write stories in my free time, so I look up on stuff on the internet and use that information to give whatever I'm doing a better explanation. This kind of stuff is real helpful, especially for the weird stuff I write. " The long black haired male replied with a hint of pride in his voice.

' Hmm, then that would explain why my physical abilities are increased in the other world to. ' The scarred teen said to himself. " Hey Max? Can I trust you to look after Roku and Zera? I need to make a quick run. "

* * *

 **TAKE YOUR TIME...**

 **Location: Theater of Fear**

The Theater of fear comes into view. Normally Zach would be getting straight to work at a time like this when Roku and Zera was danger with his mother being gone. However this time it was different.

Before long it shows Zach setting up what appears to be trip wires that were well hidden enough that no one could see. This would alert him instantly that someone or something was in the area around him. The scarred teen had recently purchased these along with other supplies that you would use for big game hunting from Iwai the other day. Of course the gruff man was taken by surprise, but money was money and that was one of the benefits of being a regular customer.

The teen even went as far to get up into the ceiling and strapped in a few trail camera's for extra good measures so that he knew what he would be dealing with. He heard of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts, how they were able to change a persons heart and steal it. He never believed in it, but if they were coming, he would come prepared for the worst case scenario just in case.

If there was one thing Zach ever did enjoy, at times, he missed the feeling. The feeling of a challenge, to test his limits. The feeling of the hunt.

' Alright, were all set. I'll be sure to keep an eye on this place for a while, but for right now. I better be prepared. ' The scarred teen said to himself as he began to make his way through the other world. For now his work was done, but next time, he was sure, things would start to get interesting.

 **To be continued.**

 **Zach's confidants**

 **Asami Tesura. Number 14. The Temperance.**

* * *

 **And also I've been thing about doing confidants and just decided to go with my gut. The reason is so that way, It'll give me more of a reason and an effort to strengthen the bonds and relation ships with the other characters. So please give me your thoughts if I should continue it or not, either way I'm fine with how this chapter turned out.**

 **And yes, this seems a bit rushed...again...but it's you will all find out the reason why soon enough. Honestly what's the difference? People rush through the game and the story anyways, this was pretty much, a real short filler, if you will.**

 **Now replying to reviewers**

 **The Celestial Sky Dragon.**

 **Ah I know where your going with that, and that was because the names were spelled wrong from what I originally intended on doing. And while I'm at it, hope that you'll like this chapter as well. Including what will happen next.**

 **Okay, now like I said early, work is busy, so it'll be a challenge trying to update stuff, so keep in mind that it might take a while to post a new chapter. All I ask is for your patience.**


	8. Important Notice (Must read)

**I've decided to rewrite this story, and instead of what I had in mind like starting from right in the middle, I'm gonna do things a bit different in the rewrite, so I do hope, that you'll all like what you'll read, I mean hey, maybe it's better this way, you never know what'll happen until you try.**

A **s of right now it's up, so if you like to check it out, then by all mean, check it out and tell me what you think, and yeah, I will keep my Oc character's, especially the ones who'll make an impact on the story.**


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